White Dullahan
by Azrael DarkWings
Summary: (Discontinued.) Will be rebooted at the end of May, 2016. Check profile for character submission sheet for both new and to re-submit old characters
1. Prologue

**A/N: **Hello folks, my name is Azrael DarkWings, and thanks for picking up my story. This is my first story on fanfiction, and this probably wouldn't have happened withouut the help of my great editor Dreadburner94. This an OC Guild Story, and I'm also currently open for OC's, but please follow the guidelines posted at the end after the closing author's notes. Now, please enjoy the prologue of my OC guild sotry, 'White Dullahan.'

**Disclaimer:** I sadly have no connection to Hiro Mashima-Sensei, and I do not own any part of Fairy Tail, besides the few original characters I made.

**Prologue**

The sun was already beginning to set over the sea as a lone figure makes her way towards the sea side town of Rindou. To most people who would meet her, she would be considered an exceptional beauty. Her long raven hair was tied back in a ponytail, revealing a face that was fair and youthful. Her catlike lavender eyes gave off a cool, collected aura. Her lithe, 5'8" frame swayed slightly as a tender sea breeze played with her ponytail. Her pace was neither fast nor slow, simply a steady gait that carried her gracefully and silently over the dusty road. She was clad in a practical short robe of purple cloth that fell to just an inch above her knees. Her feet were clad in a pair of high laced brown boots, and a naked katana hung at her side.

Suddenly a presence faintly pricked the edge of her perception, causing her to draw her blade and fall into a defensive stance, her blade held in a reverse grip in her left hand.

"Echo Search," even as the words rolled off her tongue, the spell had already taken effect, releasing several bursts of sound that instantly gave her a 'sound picture' of the area around her.

"One person, one hundred and fifty yards out," the woman then silently leapt up into the forest canopy above, her long legs effortlessly carrying her through the trees like a breeze. Then a small clearing appears in front of her, and there, lying against the trunk of a large oak tree, was a young man.

'_What's a traveler doing this far off the beaten path? And his clothes are not suited for travel,'_ indeed, the young man's attire consisted of only a pair of long dark pants, a dark blue sleeveless shirt, and a pair of long black gloves. But the strangest part of the young man attire were his foot wear, a pair of well worn military boots. '_The young man can't be anymore then nineteen years old, twenty at most,'_ the swords woman watched the young man for a time, and then decided to engage him directly from her place in the trees.

"Wake up, boy," she commanded as the young man's eyes opened slowly, revealing twin pools of the deepest azure she had ever seen, '_It's like he's looking into me, not at me.'_

"Who are you?" the young man asked with the sleepy tone of a child. Then he seemed to notice the forest around him for the first time, "Where am I?"

"We're currently about ten miles away from Rindou Town," the young man's eyes remained unchanged, as if the swordswoman had just spoken gibberish to him, "We're also near the Twin Fork River, south of the capital city of Crocus."

"Capital of what country?" the young man asked simply, almost causing the woman to fall from her place in the tree.

"Are you daft?!" the swordwoman unwittingly shouted, "Fiore! The Kingdom of Fiore! Ruled by King Toma E. Fiore? What are you going to ask me next? 'What year is it?'"

"What year _is_ it?" the young man asked in once again a simple manner. Losing her cool completely, the swordswoman leaped down from the tree and lifted the larger young man up by his shirt front.

"Are you toying with me?!" she shouted angrily into his face, any pretense of stealth now abandoned, "For if so, I'll-" the swordswoman started to say as the young man suddenly knocked the woman to the side as a bolt of dark magic streaked past them and tore a gaping hole in the oak tree.

"Tch, I missed," a dark cloaked man with a slender build and deeply tanned skin steps out from behind one of the adjacent trees, "I thought that I couldn't miss at such a short range."

"What is your business with this woman?" the young man asked, his former childlike actions now replaced with the cool, guarded words of a seasoned warrior. The hooded man pointed a single finger at the swordswoman, who was now positioned protectively behind the young man.

"My business is with her and her along," the man answered matter of factly, "So if you leave now, boy, I shall let you go with your life intact."

"That's a lie," the young man replied softly, "You already have us surrounded, and it is highly unlikely that one of your henchmen wouldn't stick a blade in my back if I tried to leave now, having seen what I have," he stated as no less then seventeen well-equipped assassins step out of the forest, their weapons already drawn.

"I see that you are not as great a fool as I initially thought," the hooded man growled, his words growing harsh as poison, "Then die with that treacherous woman!" the man shouted as one the assassins struck, charging in at terrific speed. The swordswoman's first reaction was to draw her blade, instantly cutting down one of the assassins, and then to kill two for closing in on the young man by rupturing their hearts.

"Duck!" the young man shouted as the swordswoman reacted on instinct to the sudden command as the young man delivered a savage round house kick to the chest of an assassin whose blade had been ready to pierce her heart.

"Don't give me orders!" she shouted back at the young man, "You're barely half my age!"

"So you're almost fourt-"

"Don't you dare even _think_ of finishing that sentence!" the swordswoman hissed as her eyes suddenly took on an almost demonic appearance, "Understand?!"

"Yes ma'am!" the young man replied without missing a beat as he noticed that the hooded man was gathering a large amount of magical energy, "Ma'am!"

"What is it now?" the swordswoman responded curtly, just as the cloaked man unleashed a torrent of purple flames towards the swordswoman. The cloaked figure then raised his voice in a shout of victory.

"This is the end!" he announced just before the flames closed around the swordswoman, the silver haired young man suddenly appeared between her and the flames.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" the young man shouted as the flames engulfed him, his body vanishing from view.

"You fool!" the cloaked man shouted as the swordswoman was immobilized by the four remaining living members of his team as a pair of magic inhibiting hand cuffs were slapped on her wrists, "My Shadow Blaze combines the elements of fire and shadows to sap your body of both magic and stamina, while searing the flesh from your bones!" he explained as he looked at the captive woman, his eyes full of malice and hatred, "And what made you think that you could run away from us after all the blood you have hands?" he questioned as he leaned closer to the swordswoman, the woman spitting on his face in retaliation.

"That kid had nothing to do with me, or the group," she growled in a low and angry voice, "And yet you still murdered him!" she screamed as the man with the cloak removed his hood, revealing a face that was smooth shaven and was as handsome and rigid as a statue; except for three parallel scars that cut angry red furrows across the tanned skin of his face.

"Because you did this to me when you ran away, woman," he stated as he struck her across the face with the back of his hand, which left a red mark on her face, "Besides, what gives _you_ any right to call someone else a _murderer_?" he questioned as he looked down at her evilly, a sneer contorting his face, only making him appear more gruesome than before. The cloaked man then made a slight signal to his remaining cronies, "We're headed back to H.Q. Take her with you-" he stopped short as a heavy pressure descended on him like a ton of bricks, _'What is this pressure?! She can't use her magic with those cuffs on, and I already finished off that ki-' _he thought as his eyes widened in horror as he watched a flame wrapped form rise to its feet, the form of the young man he had just incinerated.

"Thanks for the meal," the human-shaped flame chuckled as it raised a single hand towards the assassins, "Elemental Shift: Flame Style: Blazing Spiral," he announced as twin spining jets of red and blue flame shot from the young mans hand, instantly vaporizing the men holding onto the swordswoman, as well as scorching the mage's robes.

"Gah!" the cloaked man gasped as he pulled off the burning portion of his robe as he fled into the darkening forest, "Mark my words, someday, I will be back!" he bellowed as he finally disappeared.

The young man walked over to the swordswoman and effortlessly broke the Magic Drain cuffs on her wrists, and then fell to his knees as his magic pressure also dwindled down to barely a whimper.

"What is your name, boy?" the swordswoman asked, reaching out and gently taking his big hands in both of hers.

"Tristan," the young man replied.

"No family name?" she asked gently, trying to find out as much as she could about the young mage. But he just shook his head 'no', "Then how about Argent. Like the color of your hair?" she suggested as Tristan looked her straight in the face with those gentle, childlike eyes that she had been drawn to.

"I think I like the sound of that. Tristan Argent," he chuckled as he looked the swordswoman in the face and asked her innocently, "What's your name?" the swordswoman smiling in response.

"Ageha," she stated as the young man closed his eyes as she spoke.

"Ageha," Tristan repeated as he opened his eyes again, "That's a beautiful name," he stated as Ageha blushed, Tristan slowly getting back onto his feet, taking a long look at the sky as he stood back up.

"You're quite the mystery, Tristan," Ageha stated, also rising to her feet, "What kind of magic was that? Is it a Slayer type?" she asked, Tristan shrugging in response.

"It's called Elemental Shift," he stated, "And while it is similar to most Slayer arts, I can abosorb almost any element, not just fire," he explained as Ageha's eyes lit up in suprise.

"Then you must be an incredibly powerful wizard to be able to use such a potent-" she started to say as Tristan cut her off by raising his hand.

"I can only use one element at a time, and it takes a me a while to switch between elements," Ageha's expression fell slightly, but then she held out her hand to Tristan.

"Make a Guild with me, Tristan," Ageha requested, Tristan's eyes widening with surprise in response.

"Why would you want to make a Guild with a guy you've just met, Ageha?" he asked as Ageha stepped into the moonlight, which illuminated her face and caused Tristan's heart skipped a beat at the sight. Not only because of the beauty of her face, but also from the serious look in her eyes.

"Because I must pay for the sins I've committed in my life," she stated as she looked down at her hands, which were starting to tremble, "Because with this much weight, I don't want to die before I've paid for every last one of my sins," she continued as her shoulders started to shudder, several tears making their way down her face. Tristan suddenly drew Ageha into a hug, steadying her and letting her cry in relative privacy. They quietly remained like that until Ageha's shoulders stopped shaking.

"Do you have an idea for this Guild's name?" Tristan asked quietly as Ageha calmed down, his arms letting Ageha stand alone.

"Not yet, but I'm open to suggestions," she responded, her voice now back to what it had been when she had first called to him, cool and collected. Tristan's eyes sparkled with excitement as a thought crossed his mind.

"White Dullahan! And the mark would be a white suit of armor without a helmet, carrying a sword in its right hand," he suggested, causing Ageha to raise her eyebrows.

"Why that?" Ageha asked, Tristan grinning at her like a child.

"White because of the new life ahead of you, and Dullahan because of me," the young man explained as Ageha's eyes flashed playfully.

"Because you're going to be my foolish knight, boy?" she asked as Tristan smiled at her like a child again.

"What's the first order of business, Master?"

Closing A/N: Well, that's the first part, and I hope you enjoyed it. Please remember this story and come back as I post more of it, and don't forget to send in those OC's, just no god modding please.

Thanks to my Beta, Dreadburner94.


	2. Chapter 1: White Dullahan

A/N: Hello readers. Sorry for the long wait, I blame college life, being 3.5 hours from home, and Calculus. Anyways, thanks for the OCs to those who sent them in, and sorry I'm using so few. I'm not the most confident in my abilities as others, or so arrogant to believe that I can handle large numbers of characters. Anyways, thanks for waiting, and I hope to keep writing for as long as I am able.

Character thank yous:

Dreadburner94: Alphonso 'Alpha', Hanora 'Nora' and Valentine 'Val' Radcliffe. Also, thanks for being my editor/beta.

Sunsetdh: Akemi Kiri, also, congrats on being the first OC to be sent in to me in a PM.

DarkHyena: For December Crest, and her mom.

I hope to reopen the OC submissions later on, and to increase the number of Guild members.

I'll be introducing characters in the next few chapters, so if you don't see yours here, then they'll be coming soon.

Without further ado, White Dullahan, Chapter 1.

* * *

Chapter 1

The warm morning sea breeze tenderly caressed the sleeping form of Tristan Argent, rousing him from a deep, dreamless rest. The young mage opened his eyes slowly, sighing as he did so, "Morning Alpha, Nora, Val."

The Radcliffe siblings rounded the side of the large spruce tree that stood like a silent guardian of the calm port town of Rindou.

"Good morning, Tristan," Nora replied warmly, although a slight hint of annoyance tinged her words. Nora's full name was Hanora, but she didn't like being called by it, so she went by Nora. She was a 17 year old Crystal-Make wizard whose strength and expertise as a wizard remained hidden behind her slender, 5'6" frame. Her dirty blonde hair that fell in slightly spiked waves framed a tanned face with slanted, stormy gray eyes, a slightly pointed nose and a pair of thin lips that were set in a slightly downward position. Her guild mark on the outside of her left thigh was black.

"Mornin' Argent," Nora's older brother, Alpha, grumbled. Alpha's full name, Alphonso, was one of the many things that could transform him into a whirlwind of raging energy that only his sister could stop. But the 5'10" young man was one of the most reliable mages in the guild when it really counted. His unruly auburn hair fell around his face and accented his slightly tanned face and slanted, maroon colored eyes. His red guild mark stood out on his shoulder.

"Morning Tristan!" beamed Valentine, who preferred Val, the youngest of the three with shaggy black dyed hair and blond highlights that reached the nape of his neck, while his bangs were swept to the left side of his face, revealing a pair of maroon eyes just like Alpha's. His silver guild mark stood out against the tan skin of his forearm.

"What brings you three out to harass me?" Tristan asked groggily as Nora rolled her eyes while Alpha snorted, leaving Val to respond to Tristan's inquiry.

"Master wants to see you today," Val responded quickly.

"Tell her I'll see here when-" Tristan started to say as he closed his eyes.

"She wants to discuss the details special job with you," Nora interjected, "_Now,_" Tristan instantly sat up, his face instantly turning serious.

"Did she say anything else?" he asked evenly. Nora nodded, her eyes reflecting a slight spark of mischief.

"She wants you to take Akemi and December with you," Tristan's face brightened at the mention of the names.

"Ah, good," he breathed, "At least I got a team that will follow orders this time," he glanced at Alpha, who glared back at him.

"You got a problem with the way I do my jobs?" Alpha rumbled, his magic starting to shimmer off of his body. Tristan gave him a cheeky grin.

"Now come on you two," Nora interjected between the two mages, putting on a friendly smile, "We wouldn't want to keep Master waiting now, would we?" both Tristan and Alpha shuddered involuntarily at the thought of their Master's anger.

"Shall we call a truce for now, Alpha?" Tristan asked hurriedly.

Alpha nodded in agreement, "I agree with you, for once," the two men shook hands quickly and then stated to make their way towards the town, followed closely behind by Nora and Val. Val looked at his sister with a faint sense of awe.

"You sure know how to get people to do what you want them too," he whispered to her, but Nora just shook her head in response.

"It wasn't as much my words as the person they came from," she said simply, as an odd expression of annoyance and embarrassment surfaced slightly at the corners of her lips, "And besides, Master's the only person who can make Tristan move as she pleases," Val grinned as the words left his sister's mouth.

"You're right about that one," Val responded brightly.

.:-:.

The White Dullahan guild was situated on the north-east side of Rindou Town, standing tall and stoic against the sky. It had been given to the guild by the town as a reward for 'certain services rendered to the town.' Rumors abounded about the actual deal, but the exact details were only known by the Guild Master of White Dullahan, her Dullahan and the town officials.

The hall itself rose up three stories tall and was built from white bricks that gave the building a strong yet comforting feeling. Its roof was painted a bright red, and its general appearance was that of a castle. The front door, made from dark oak wood, opened into the main floor, which was dominated by a single large open space filled with tables and chairs, with a bar counter at the back and a large stage on the left, where some of the more musically oriented mages could preform for their guild mates.

The second floor was designed more like the backstage of a theater, giving a view of the first floor from multiple angles. The area itself was only accessible via a magic-lift that could only be accessed by those who the guild master designated. The space was furnished by several tables, which could be reserved in advance for meetings or for formal occasions.

The S-Rank quest board was located on the back wall, directly on the left from the lift landing. There were only two requirements to take an S-Rank quest, either have an S-Class mage in your group, or get permission directly from the Master herself.

December Crest had been called by the guild Master early in the morning for a special job, which was why she had been hanging out at the guild since breakfast; waiting for the rest of her team to show up.

"Hey December," she heard a voice call out as December turned her head and smiled faintly as Akemi Kiri, one of White Dullahan's S-Class mages, and most popular bar maid, appeared.

"Hey Akemi," December replied courteously, as the younger girl came in close, "Do you know where Tristan is? He's the last member of our team, and he's late," a slight edge of frustration crept into her voice, but Akemi simply smiled at her and responded.

"Don't worry, this job's straight from Ageha, so he'll be here," December smiled at her friend. Although December was the older of the two girls, Akemi had been with the guild from the very beginning, having joined within a month of White Dullahan setting up shop in Rindou. At 16, she already had the looks and manners of someone older then her 16 years and she was the mood maker of the guild. Her gentle mannerisms and actions allowed her to calm down some of the guild's trouble makers in an instant, and she was just beautiful besides. Her long black hair fell to bellow her waist, and the edges had a natural silver coloring, giving her an otherworldly feel at times.

"Yeah, you're right on that one," December replied, sighing as she looked down at the book she had been reading, "I just hope they get here soon, I'm almost done with this one too," Akemi looked over at the small pile of books on the counter.

"You've been reading ever since you got here, haven't you?" Akemi asked, trying to catch a peek at the title of one of the books, only for December to quickly block her hands, a blush of embarrassment on her face.

"Except for an hour at lunch, when mom was on her break," December said quietly, as her friend grinned at her. Then the sound of the guild's main door opening echoed through the room, as Tristan Argent and the Radcliffe's entered the hall.

"Sorry I'm late December, Akemi," Tristan said sheepishly, as he came up to the bar, "I was taking a nap by the Lookout Tree," Akemi sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"No harm done Tristan, just a few hours of waiting for this one," she indicated December, who was quickly moving all of her books into her bag. As she spoke, December dropped one of the books and made a move to catch it, but Tristan beat her to it, catching it before it hit the floor and taking a quick look at the cover.

"What are you reading this time December?" Tristan asked curiously. But instead of answering, December simply snagged the book away so quickly that Tristan couldn't even catch the title of the book.

"N-n-nothing important!" she squeaked, much to Akemi's enjoyment.

"Anyways," Akemi directed Tristan's attention away from the blushing December and to herself, "Master wants us to head to Hargeon," Tristan cocked his head at Akemi, a look of mild confusion in his face.

"Hargeon? What are we supposed to do there?" Akemi's eyes sparkled.

"We're going to be recruiting a new guild member," a smile quickly formed on Tristan's lips in response to Akemi's words.

"Really?" Tristan asked, his eyes like a kid on Christmas day.

"Really," Akemi replied, the same look of excitement in her eyes. December stood, adjusting her bag on her shoulder and taking care with her sword, Crusade, on her left hip.

"Well, shall we get going?" December asked, her own words starting to echo the excitement of her two guild mates.

"Yeah!" Tristan shouted, "Let's go!"

* * *

From her vantage point from the Guild's roof, Ageha watched as the forms of Tristan, Akemi and December make their way towards the docks. Her long black hair played gently at her shoulders in the warm evening breeze, as a playful smile perked at the corners of her lips.

"It's already been three years since we founded this Guild, hasn't it Tristan?" Ageha said to no one in particular, as she watched her foolish knight lead his team mates, "He does look his best when he's with others, doesn't he?" she asked as a figure detached itself from the shadows on the rooftop.

"I'd have to agree with you, Master," the figure said as it slowly took the shape of a young woman around 20 years old, with long dark hair similar to Ageha and a pair of bright lavender eyes. The young woman's clothing consisted of a shirt of chain mail that covered her torso from her shoulders to her waist, along with a short jacket of light brown leather over top her mail and a gray skirt that fell to just beneath her knees. The younger woman's hair was tied back in long braid that fell to the middle of her back. Her eyes were also on Tristan, but the way she viewed him was less of the eyes of an equal, and more the eyes of an opponent.

"I still can't see why you chose that man to be the co-founder of your Guild, Master," the woman huffed as Ageha's eyes glimmered mischievously at her protege, who she and Tristan had recruited only two months after the founding of White Dullahan.

"Feeling a little jealous, Suzume?" Ageha teased playfully. Suzume's eyes betrayed no emotion as she gauged Tristan from their position.

"Of course not, Master," she replied simply, "He just doesn't seem like anyone impressive," Suzume stated as Ageha's eyes betrayed some sadness at Suzume's harsh treatment towards Tristan, but one of her first orders to Tristan had been to keep his magic under wraps. She wanted him to be able to enjoy his time at the Guild, and she wouldn't mind if he never had to use his Elemental Shift again.

"He is the one who helped me save your life that day, don't you remember?" Ageha asked tentatively, trying to get some reaction from the young woman in front of her. But Suzume only shook her head.

"I only remember you waking me on the day you recruited me into White Dullahan, and nothing before that," Suzume admitted as Ageha's face stayed impassive, but her heart was saddened by Suzume's words, which made her seem like less of a human, and more of a book being read to her. Then Suzume voiced an inquiry, "What job did you give that team?" Ageha's lips draw into a tight, angry line at the thought of the mission.

"They're going to recruit a new member to the Guild, nothing more," Ageha replied curtly, cutting down any of Suzume's follow up questions before she could voice them, "Anyways, our new friend has a rather interesting and rare magic, one that some old friends would love to get their hands on," Ageha explained as Suzume's focus sharply locked onto the phrase 'old friends.'

"You mean the Organization," Suzume said lowly as Ageha nodded, her eyes growing dangerous cold.

"Yes, the same people I ran away from before I started this Guild," the Ageha admitted, '_And the same people who you were with before Tristan saved you, Suzume,' _she added in her head before continuing, "That's why I sent Tristan, he already has experience with the people we'll be facing in Hargeon," she explained as another breeze blew in from the sea. "He's also the only member of the Guild I could trust to be discreet about this kind of job." Suzume raised her right eyebrow marginally.

"Why do you say that, Master?" Suzume asked, her voice barely carrying holding back her curiosity.

"Because he isn't the kind of person to lose, no matter what."

* * *

A/N: Sorry I took so long to get this up! I regret my inability to post faster. Anyways, This chapter isn't as long as the others, but I wanted to get it out so that no one forgot about this story, as I'm really serious about it.

I'm sorry if I haven't portrayed the characters very well, but I promise to work on that in the future.

Also, I'm reopening character submissions for around 4 to 5 characters for the guild, and I'm also open for any number of OC villains.

Until next time, ADW.


	3. Chapter 2: Team Madcap

A/N: Hello folks, it's me again, Azrael Darkwings. Thanks for continuing to read my story, and I hope that you will stay around for the ride.

Anyways, as I said in the last bottom A/N, OCs are being accepted again. And I'll go on record to say this, OC Villains will be accepted with open jail cells and ready fists, AKA send them in. I need some villains that aren't made by me.

Also, new OC form, with a few new areas added. Please follow this thing, it save me a lot of stress and grey hair.

To everyone who reviewed, thank you. I'm forever grateful.

Now, onto the next chapter, enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 2:

On the same day that Tristan's group departed for Hargeon, another team from White Dullahan was in the midst of a job in the Worth Wood Sea.

"Those two've been gone for a while now, hope Jinx didn't get side tracked again," Artem Kerensky said to no one in particular. A grunt from his team mate Creed Blackblood prompted Artem to continue, "Was it really a good idea to have those to bait the wyverns?" Creed Blackblood turned to look his carefree friend in the face before answering him.

"Those two are better suited for drawing the wyverns in then either you or me, Artem," Kerensky looked at his friend and guild mate with an almost unnoticeable smile as Creed explained their strategy. "Jinx is a Shadow mage with a particularly strong bend towards assassination and scouting, while Indigo's Taranau Arc gives her a level of mobility that isn't normal even by mage standards," Creed rose to his full 5'7" height and stretched his arms above his head, stretching them to get back the circulation and cracking his neck at the same time, causing his short cut silver hair to wave gently around his head.

"You're definitely the brains of this group, Creed," Artem said half-seriously, drawing himself up from his spot from the ground, stretching out to his full 5'11". Creed gave Artem a look of sarcasm.

"We both know that you don't take thing seriously, Artem. Otherwise you'd beat me easily as a tactician," Artem closed his left, green eye and looked at Creed through his right, blue eye, smiling again.

"Who can say, Creed? Maybe I just haven't found a reason to go all out yet," Creed's dark green eyes looked at Artem hard, and he opened his mouth to say something, when a very loud and very feminine voice shattered the subtle sounds of the forest.

"Creed! Artem! We've got 'em!" Both men turned quickly in the direction of the voice and the sound of rustling foliage, and then they both looked at each other again.

"Hey, Artem," Creed said as he re-equiped a pair of black handguns.

"Yes, Creed?" Artem responded as he began gathering his magic into both of his arms.

"The plan called for those two to bring one wyvern at a time, right?" Creed grumbled in an annoyed tone, his anger building. Artem grinned fearlessly at the scene in front of them.

"It did in my mind, partner."

"Then why in the hell are there _four _wyverns here instead of just one?!" Creed roared as the two of them split off towards different marks.

"That answer is known all to well to both of us, Creed," Artem laughed gaily as he closed with his mark, and as Creed bellowed at the top of his lungs the name of their groups troublemaker.

"Indigo Meadowbrook!"

.:-:.

As Indigo Meadowbrook closed in on her mark with fluid, bounding strides, Creed's yell barely registered in her unconscious thoughts. Indigo's thoughts were solely focused on the wyvern in front of her, and she wasn't about to let anything distract her from her mark, "Let's do this!" Lightning began to arc over Indigo's body as she took control of her magic energy. Her magic, Taranau Arc, allowed her to freely control multiple forms of lightning.

As Indigo's magic began radiating off of her body in an indigo colored sheen, just like her name, the wyvern launched itself forward, roaring angrily, "If that's the best you can do, you're not going to be able to beat me!" with a roar of her own, Indigo burst forward and delivered a lightening infused kick to the left side of the wyvern's head. The impact of the blow coupled with Indigo's magic caused the hefty wyvern to stumble to the right, shaking its head in pain.

"Looks like I'm not even going to get a warm up out of this one," Indigo muttered in annoyance, flicking her long brown ponytail behind herself, "Looks like I'm going to have to see if Tristan will fight me when we get back to the guild."

Then without warning, the wyvern hurled its tail towards Indigo, causing the 15 year old mage to leap backwards by reflex, the lessons she'd received from Tristan ringing in her mind, _"Never underestimate your opponent, be they mage, human, monster or demon, anything is possible on the battlefield."_

"Looks like you've still got some fight left in you! Great!" Indigo released a burst of magical current into her shoes, which had been specially made to work in conjunction with her magic, taking off again towards the wyvern with a happy look on her face, "Let's do this!"

The wyvern roared back, as if in acceptance, and charged a the 5'7" girl, who once again leaped high into the air, avoiding the wyvern's claws and charging up an enormous mass of magical power.

"Let's see how you take this!" Indigo shouted as she bent her arms behind her head midair and then snapped her lithe frame as if throwing a javelin towards the wyvern, driving a giant lance of pure lightening through the wyvern's back and into the ground. The wyvern screeched in pain as the gaping wound in its back gave off the smell of grilled meat. The smell pricked at Indigo's nose and caused her to drool for a moment before she regained her composure.

"Now's not the time for that, I'll finish you first and then have lunch!" the wyvern screeched at her again and shambled forward on wobbly legs as Indigo began building another mass of electricity, causing an indigo radiance to glow around her. "Game over."

.:-:.

At the same time as Indigo was enjoying her fight, Jinx Akuma was barely dodging death by a hairsbreadth. Jinx had known that when Creed and Artem had placed her with Indigo, something would go wrong; but she hadn't been expecting the events that had occurred.

"Indigo, why did you have to get all four of these beasts at the same time?" Jinx growled through her clenched teeth and the wyvern in front of her tore through trees, bushes and boulders in its attempts of catching her, "You, Artem and Creed can handle yourselves one on one with these things, but my magic isn't meant to-"

A sudden snapping of the wyvern's massive jaws caused the slightly built, 5'5" girl to dance backwards with barely a moment to breath, '_That was to close!'_ Jinx thought to herself, as she used the seconds the wyvern spent on correcting itself to quickly vanish into the dark green foliage of the forest with her Shadow Magic.

The wyvern, suddenly unable to sense its enemy, began to search for her vigorously, '_Alright, I'm clear for now,'_ Jinx thought to herself, as she studied her surroundings thoroughly, '_Now how am I supposed to take this thing down? The original plan that Creed came up with was for me and Indigo to bait these things in one at a time, and then have him and Kerensky take them out,'_ Jinx sighed, '_At least, that was how it was _supposed_ to go! Indigo!'_ As if it had sensed Jinx's anger the wyvern turned itself towards the tree she was hidden in and charged.

"You want me, then come get me!" with a shout of challenge, Jinx disregarded the danger in front of her and rocketed towards the wyvern, the long white ponytail of her hair coming undone and fanning out around her, catching the light around her and forming a shimmering halo around her face, framing her purple eyes as they flashed with killing intent.

The wyvern, surprised by the sudden and violent aura of danger coming from the girl, stumbled as it tried to dodge away from her. But Jinx was already face to face with the wyvern as drew back her right arm and then launched a single punch in a blur of motion that the wyvern never saw coming.

"Shadow Enhance!" Jinx's spell poured a torrent of dark magical energy into her glove covered fist as it struck and drove into the wyvern's left eye and released an explosion of magic directly into its brain. The wyvern slumped heavily to the forest floor as Jinx began to clean the wyvern's remains from her arms. She looked at the wyvern's corpse as she did so, smirking slightly.

"The bigger they are, the bigger the weak point."

.:-:.

Artem Kerensky had rushed straight towards his wyvern the moment the girls had arrive with all four of them. His long, black and silver trench coat spread out behind him as he neared the wyvern, which turned towards the incoming movement. With a burst of speed, Artem dove beneath the sweeping motion of the wyvern's tail as it attempted to knock him from his feet.

"_Quake_!" Artem firmly planted his boots on the ground and then slammed his right fist into the earth, his Shatter Magic breaking the ground into shards like glass, not only disturbing the wyvern's balance but also kicking up a haze of dirt and debris that robed the creature of its vision. In response the wyvern quickly moved backwards, trying to get clear of the dust cloud.

"You thought you'd be getting away that easily?" the wyvern looked up sharply, just as Artem descended from above like a bird of prey, his right arm drawn back, "_Shatter Arcana: Sovereign Fracture!_" the instant Atrem's fist impacted the wyvern's head the magic in his body flowed out from his arm in a cylinder shaped pillar, causing a gaping hole to appear through the wyvern's head and down into the ground. Then the wyvern simply crumpled to the earth, the life already gone from its body.

"That wraps this one up nicely," the sandy brown haired Artem said in his usual, laid back tone, as he dusted off his baggy white pants. Then he heard the sound of several back to back explosions and he grinned slightly, "And it sounds like Creed is having a good time with his wyvern," Artem smiled to himself as he ran a hand over his stubble, "Guess I'll go check up on him."

.:-:.

Creed's first action upon picking his wyvern had been to Re-Equip his Frost Rifle and to draw the creature away from the groups original fighting area, the glen. He quickly retreated into the nearby forest as the wyvern pursued him, roaring all the while.

"Come and get me, you overgrown lizard!" Creed shouted back at the wyvern, his face sporting a fearless grin, "Re-equip: Elemental Grenade Launcher!" the rifle in Creed's hands was instantly replaced with a six-round grenade launcher, which he instantly pointed at the wyvern's open jaws. "Chew on this!" the launcher spat a cartridge of fire infused ammunition into the wyvern's gaping jaws, which it quickly proceeded to open even wider as the flames ravaged the insides of its mouth.

"How's that? A little to hot for you to handle?" the wyvern, as if in response to Creed's quip, roared at him and then used its wings to gain some altitude. Creed's confident expression remained unfazed, as he simply re-equipped his weapon again as the wyvern entered a diving plunge straight towards the grinning mage.

"Re-Equip: Riot Shield!" with a quick sidestep and the shield turned at an angle to the wyvern, Creed used his shield to ride across the side of the wyvern's body and landed on his feet with cat-like grace, "Re-Equip: Holy Grenade!" the moment the weapon materialized in Creed's hand he threw it with a perfect arc into the wyvern's eye, releasing a scaling explosion of light that caused the wyvern once again to roar in pain.

Creed leaped into the air above the wyvern and landed on its neck, Re-Equipping again, "Re-Equip: Heavy Sniper Rifle," the four foot long rifle appeared in Creed's hands, and he placed the weapon directly against the base of the wyvern's skull, "And that's a wrap," he said as he pulled the trigger, blowing a hole through the wyvern's head. Creed leaped clear as the whole mass of now lifeless wyvern fell to the ground, wiping his hands off on his black cargo pants. Then the sound of clapping reached his still ringing ears.

"Nice work Creed, very nice," Artem Kerensky stepped out from the dense forest green, revealing his signature carefree smile. Creed made a face at him.

"You're just too carefree sometimes, you know that?" he asked Artem, as he began to clean off his heavy sniper. Artem just grinned at him in response. Then the sounds of breaking foliage could be heard from behind them, and out of the forest came Jinx, who was in the middle of cleaning off her right arm, which revealed her red Dullahan mark on her forearm.

"Looks like you had quite a rough time, Jinx. You okay?" Creed asked kindly, as the younger girl looked at him evenly.

"I wish that either you or Kerensky had gone with me to bait those wyverns, Creed," She said as she crossed her arms over her chest, revealing her Clan's tattoo, that extended from her left fore arm all the way up to her shoulder. Creed sighed as he listened to Jinx.

"Jinx, you know that Artem and I just can't match the speed that you two can. That's just the facts of this team," Jinx started to open her mouth to retort, but Creed simply held up a hand for her to keep listening to him, "Now I know that Indigo can be a little reckless at times."

"That's an understatement," Jinx growled, cutting him off, "That girl just does whatever she want to, whenever she wants to," Jinx's face flushed a little as she continued, "And all she ever does is try and fight anyone she thinks is strong!" her volume rose into a near shout. Creed sighed again as he waited for the younger mage to calm down before he spoke again.

"We all know that Indigo's like that, that's just the way she's wired," he cast a look over at Artem. "Hell, even I get a little angry with Artem at times because he doesn't take things seriously enough."

"Guilty as charged," Artem said with a cat-like grin.

"But he still works hard when the chips are down and he's reliable," Artem's grin changed into a friendly smile, "Although I still want to punch him at times," Artem's grin returned in a flash. "Look, what I'm saying Jinx is this: Even if you don't like her all that much, just give your teammates some grace when they need it. Because that will make them more likely to give you some when you get on their nerves," Jinx's face tightened up a bit as Creed finished up, but she nodded slightly at he, acknowledging that his words had reached her, "Now that that's cleared up, where is that girl?" Artem suddenly sniffed the air curiously.

"Anybody else smell grilled meat?" Creed started to chastise his partner when he also caught the scent.

"You know, me too."

"Me three," Jinx said, sniffing the air and looking for the source of the smell. Then she looked at Creed and Kerensky, "You don't think that she..."

"She wouldn't, would she?" Artem asked in a voice of awe. Creed rubbed his hands against his temples.

"She is a fairly gluttonous one, and it is almost noon," then the mages moved into the forest and traced the smell to a clearing with a large fire burning in the center of it, and the semi-butchered corpse of a wyvern nearby. And sitting near the fire, turning a large spit loaded with meat over the fire was a grinning Indigo, whose mouth was dripping with saliva.

"I expected as much, but still," Artem sighed, looking at the wyvern's body, "Does that girl have a hollow stomach or something?"

"Nope, she just doesn't know the meaning of the word 'restraint,'" Creed muttered as he walked towards the girl who was intently watching the meat cook, "So is this one yours Indigo, or are you willing to share?" the brown haired girl kept watching the meat roast as she responded offhand.

"I'll share, just take a seat and wait patiently, Creed," the gun mage sighed as he took a seat on a nearby rock and motioned to the others to do the same.

"Looks like we're going to be eating lunch outdoors today, hope you guys brought your appetites," Artem smiled as he almost magically produced a picnic blanket and basket, sitting down immediately and digging into a large sandwich. Jinx just sighed and sat down on the roots of a large tree as she produced a small round lunch boxed and began to dig in with a pair of chopsticks.

"You have a stain on your hoodie, Indigo," Artem said as he finished off his first sandwich. Indigo raised the meat up to a higher rung on the roaster before she looked down at her hoodie.

"It'll probably come out in the wash anyways, but still," she said as she removed the dirty hoodie and put it into her knapsack, "I'd rather not get it dirtier," she looked over at Creed, and made a gesture towards him, "Got anything I can wear for now?" Creed materialized and tossed her one of his own shirts to wear over her own sweaty tee shirt. Creed sighed again as he looked at his teammates.

"Master sure has a weird sense of how to put teams together, doesn't she?"

* * *

A/N: Well, another chapter out, and now it's Groveling Time! **Performs Triple Axel Dogeza (Look up "Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere" to see)**. Please forgive my negligent behavior! From now on, I will be posting every other week, if not weekly, whenever possible. At the very least once a month. So please forgive me, I never meant to make all of you wait. **Looks up tentative. **But anyways, please keep reading and review me. I look forward to writing for you guys again. Also, OC Submissions are open again. I'll only be accepting the first 5 to 8 of them for the guild, unless they are to good to let pass. But I am chronically short on villains, if you have someone you want to send my way, I'll take them, just please send in some villains. Also, please no borderline split personality characters, unless you give me one hell of a back story to explain why. Anyways, maybe another chapter this weekend? I shall do my best!

Thanks to:

GhostOfOnyx: Artem Kerensky

trappedindarkness13: Jinx Akuma

DarkHyena: Creed Blackblood

Luxrayguy: Indigo Medowbrook

Also, for characters previously sent in, would you makers please look at this as well as new character makers and send in the information not previously required in the new format? I will preform Dogeza in gratitude if you do.

New OC Form

Name: ((First and Last, as well as any nicknames))

Age: ((Prefer 18-40 years))

Gender: ((Male or Female))  
Birthday:  
Appearance:

Hair: ((Style, Color, Length, etc.))

Eyes: ((Shape, Color, etc.))

Height:

Body Type:

Skin Tone:

Dominant Hand: Left, right, ambidextrous

Guild Mark Location and Color:

Others: ((Such as piercings, tattoos, birthmarks, scars, etc.))

Clothing:

Regular Clothes:  
Training:

Formal Clothing:

Swimwear:

Sleepwear:

Winter Clothing:  
Extreme Heat Clothing:  
Other:

Personality: ((You must be as detailed as possible. I will not take a character that only has like two or three sentences for their personality section. If you want me to portray them correctly, then you need to give me everything that creates them – the good, the bad and the ugly. So 'shy and sweet' will not work for this category. And everyone has good things and bad things about them, so don't feel hesitant to tell me their flaws as well as what makes them a good person. AGAIN, I WILL NOT ACCEPT CHARACTERS WITH A LACK OF DETAIL ON THIS PART.))

Likes:

Dislikes:  
Favorites:  
Hobbies and other skills:  
Extras: ((Anything odd or interesting that you would like to add to your character. So this can include pet peeves or specific mannerisms that they do. (Example: they happen to whistle without realizing it when they're bored.) ))

Relationships:  
Strangers: ((Tell me how they act around strangers.))  
Acquaintances: ((Tell me how they act around acquaintances.))  
Friends: ((Tell me how they act around their friends. And please include on the type of people they are more likely to befriend and people they are more likely to be annoyed with.))

Rivals: ((If your character is someone that would have a rival, tell me so. And tell me the type of person they would most likely have a rival with and how they would act with that person.))  
Family: ((Tell me how they would act around family, if they have any.))  
Respected Figures: ((Tell me how they would act around a figure of authority or a person that your OC respects, like a Guild Master or S-Class Mage. Also please include the type of person they are more likely to respect.))

Enemies: ((Tell me how they act around an enemy. Do they stay silent or are they more talkative? Do they draw out the fight or do they end it quickly?))

Romance: ((Tell me the type of person your character is more likely to have a crush on and how would they act around that person. Again, the more detailed you are with this, the easier it'll be for me to pair them with someone. If you don't want them to end up in a romance, please tell me this as well so I can plan properly. I will NOT be doing any OCxCanon pairings in this story, so this is why this explanation is important so I know what other OC would work well with them.))

Magic: ((I will ONLY take up to TWO types of magic for a character. I will also only be accepting up to two Slayers of any kind for this story! I don't want a whole bunch of Mary/Gary-Sues running around the place! And I want to be able to develop the characters and I can't always do that with their magic if you've overpowered them. Also, please explain how your magic works, especially if it's something new you created.))

Spells: ((PLEASE give me a list of spells that your character can use and explain how they work. You can also give me a list of spells they can eventually learn and I may ask you about a spell or two I may create for them myself in the future. I'll always ask before I do this though.))

Note: If no spells are given, I'll have to do it myself, no questions asked, unless there are no spells for the magic.

Weapons/Equipment: ((They don't have to have a weapon, but if they do, please explain what it is and if it has magical properties or not.))

Strengths: ((Explain what your character is good at combat wise. So like, short range, mid range or long range fighting. Are they good at strategies or are they better at heading into battle head on? Are they good at leading or following? Are they more offensive or defensive? So on and so forth. Again, the more detailed you are with this, the better understanding of their battle etiquette I'll have and I'll be able to properly show them off in battles and fights.))

Weaknesses: ((EVERYONE HAS WEAKNESSES, so I expect to have weaknesses for your character as well. What are they bad at? Team work? Long range fighting? Battle tactics? Taking orders? Etc, etc, etc.))

History: ((In the history, please include where they grew up, how they got their magic, how the act with their families (if they have family members still around), how they ended up at the guild, what all they've been through up until the starting point of the story. AGAIN I WILL NOT ACCEPT CHARACTERS SENT IN TO ME WITH LIKE 2 OR 3 SENTENCES FOR THEIR HISTORY. If I am taking the time to properly write in your character, then I expect the same amount of work to go into you making your character in the first place. So I do reserve the right to deny the character if the history isn't long enough or if it doesn't make sense. I will work with you if you need it to make sure everything is in place and the history makes sense. I don't mind receiving long histories/profiles as I'd rather receive more information than not enough, I prefer it honestly, so long profiles are not a problem for me at all. Also, I do NOT want any OCs that are related to canon characters. They could possibly have known and been friends with canon characters, but I'd rather not have that either.))


	4. Chapter 3: Crocus Team, Off!

A/N: As penance for my long silence, I shall have this chapter up by Sunday Midnight at the latest; even if I must die and then come back through sheer will power.

Anyways, thanks for the reviews, to those of you who sent them. And another thank you to those who sent in OCs, which are still being accepted. And Villain submissions will be open for... I don't think I'll set an end for those, as I have not received many. But the ones I have so far are good.

I'll thank character makers in the wrap up A/N from now on, so without further Adieu, White Dullahan Chapter 3!

* * *

Chapter 3

The sun had just peeked over the horizon line on the first day after the departure of Tristan's team as Reasha Faydon made her way down to the main floor of the White Dullahan dorms. The 18 year old, purple haired mage had joined the guild two years before after she had been forced to leave her old Guild due to medical reasons. Although she'd felt uneasy about White Dullahan at the start, her new guild mates had offered her a helping hand and a warm smile, giving her a happiness that she hadn't expected to find after she had left Future's Glory.

The White Dullahan Dormitory building was a later addition to the original building, which had been put up to offer a place to stay for both newer members and for those who had special circumstances. The dorms themselves were modeled after the guild hall in appearance, another building made out of stoic white brick, but its roof was painted in blue on the male side and green on the female half and the two sections were separated by a large courtyard that housed the guild's training arena, which was separated from the outside by a single guard house that required identification of a guild mark or by special permission from the guild master herself. The two sections were connected by a large dinning area that butted up against the kitchen space, the area shared both by the regular guild hall and by the residents of the dorms.

"Good Morning, Reasha," the first person to greet her was Ageha, who was already up and making breakfast along side May Crest, the mother of December. The smell of freshly cooked food made Reasha's stomach rumble, causing her to blush.

"G-good morning Master, May-san," she stuttered as she took a seat in a small corner booth. Having just gotten up, Reasha had not yet changed out of her pajamas; a long, white plaid night gown that fell to just above her ankles and a pair of bunny slippers. She was still blushing as May placed a plate of pancakes and sausage in front of her with a warm smile on her face.

"Eat up, Reasha," the older woman said kindly, brushing her long blonde hair back from her face, which revealed her crystal blue eyes, which December had inherited from her, "Today is the day you are starting your trip to Crocus to see your old Guild mates, isn't it? So you'll need a lot of energy today." Reasha smiled back at May happily.

"Thank you, May-san," she said, as she began to dig into her meal hungrily. May smiled at the younger girl as she made her way back to the open kitchen area, where Ageha, who had her long black hair tied back with a blue bandana and was wearing a plain white apron over her clothes, a short sleeved, purple shirt and a pair of well worn jeans. On her feet were a pair of wooden sandals, a present from a guild member who had divined her birthday two years before.

"Ageha, you really don't have to help me make breakfast for everyone every morning. Don't you have papers to look over or some other work related to the Guild to do?" Ageha smiled faintly at the older woman, as her hands kept moving to make more food.

"I like feeding the kids as much as you do, May. Besides," she said, casting an eye over at Reasha, "I love seeing the smiling faces of my Guild members." May sighed as she saw the look in Ageha's eyes that appeared every time the guild wasn't in an uproar.

"Alright then let's keep going, because soon enough the rest of the lodgers will be getting up," as if on cue, Valentine Radcliffe appeared at one of the tables, still rubbing the sleep from his maroon eyes. He was still wearing his black cotton sleeping shorts, but he had an over-sized white t-shirt over them.

"Morning Master, May," he yawned, slurring his words. Ageha smiled at the youngest Radcliffe, who proceeded to take a seat at the same booth as Reasha, smiling as he did so, "Morning, Reasha." The older girl smiled in return.

"Good Morning, Val-kun," May appeared at the table again, this time with a plate for Val.

"Thank you, May." the older woman smiled as she returned to assist Ageha again.

"It's hard to believe that Valentine's related to Alpha, isn't it?" Ageha chuckled at May's words, focusing herself on the pancake batter in front of her.

"If it wasn't for Nora, I would never have been able to see how they're related," Ageha looked up from the batter at May for a moment, "The three of them are a set, and not just because of their ages," as the words left Guild Master's mouth, Nora appeared, dressed in a pair of red and black plaid flannel pajama pants and an oversized black t-shirt.

"Good morning Master, Mrs. Crest," Nora said, as she took a seat at a table some distance from the counter. Ageha carried Nora's plate to her personally, as May started flipping another batch of pancakes. Nora nodded her head silently to the guild master, but as her fork and knife neared her plate, Ageha spoke to her.

"I'd like you to go with Reasha on her trip to Crocus," Nora's utensils paused, her knife in the middle of cutting her pancakes, as she looked up at Ageha.

"May I ask, why me?" Ageha looked towards the large oaken door that led out to the courtyard between the dorms.

"Because of who's coming home today, the other member of the team," as the words left Ageha's mouth, the large door swung open, revealing a pair of figures, one male and one female.

"We're back, everyone!" the male figure trumpeted, walking into the dinning hall shirtless and barefoot. The female figure followed behind, a sighing expression on her face.

"Matsuda, it's still early. There might still some people sleeping," then the young woman turned and bowed her head respectfully to Ageha. "We've returned, Master."

"Welcome back, Asuka, Matsuda," Ageha said with a faint smile on her face, "But I think your sister's right, Matsuda. Even after your shout just now there might still be a few people sleeping, so would you mind keeping your voice lower?" Matsuda looked first at Ageha and then at his sister, who nodded her head slightly in acknowledgment.

"Yes ma'am," Ageha smiled at his response.

"Well then you two, why don't you just take a seat anywhere and either May or I will bring you something to eat in a minute." Matsuda grinned happily at the idea of food, and took a seat at the booth that backed up against Reasha and Val's. Asuka, noticing Nora, walked over to her table.

"Good morning, Nora-chan," she said with a flirtatious smile. Nora kept her eyes on her food as she responded.

"Morning, Asuka," a relatively new member to the guild, Asuka had joined with her foster-brother Matsuda back in November of the previous year, only four months previous. Asuka was 5'10", with a figure halfway between lithe and athletic. Her looks were not those that would stop a man in the street, but most would take a second or third look. Her slightly angular green eyes were offset by her fair skin and deep fuchsia hair, which was tied back in a high ponytail that fell to her neck.

"Mind if I join you here?" Asuka asked. Nora sighed slightly and nodded her head, "Thank you," Asuka responded happily, taking the seat directly across from Nora. As Nora took another bite of her breakfast, Asuka stretched her arms behind her head and stretched, her C-cup breast becoming pronounced from under her crimson tube top, which also pronounced the twin dark green and brown oriental dragon tattoos on her arms; which started from her shoulder blades and then seemed to crawl down her arms, the dragon's hind legs on her biceps, their front legs outstretched on the middle of her forearms and ending with their snouts just peeking past her wrists. Her outfit was completed with a pair of navy blue denim shorts that ended just before her knees and a pair of black, flat heeled boots that climbed three fourths of the way up her shins.

"Here's yours, Asuka," May appeared, placing a large plate filled with ham, eggs and toast before Asuka.

"Thanks May," the 19 year old said gratefully, "How's Matsuda doing?" She asked, both women looking over at Matsuda, who was ravenously devouring what seemed to be his third plate of bread and meat.

"About his average amount," May said offhandedly, mentally making a note to put up a job posting up for a team to go foraging for more foodstuffs. Asuka sighed slightly, rubbing her forehead in a form of gentle, yet tired, resignation.

"I guess you can take a wildman out of the wilderness, but you can't take the wilderness out of the 'Wildman,' huh?" May simply smiled in return.

"It's no problem. I'm sure that someday, a beauty will come to tame our beast." With that she made her way back to the kitchen area again, where Ageha was beginning to wrap up the last batch of fresh breakfast, and was already moving prepping portions for the later risers. Nora couldn't resist a laugh that made her pause for a second and neither could Asuka, who also chuckled quietly.

Both young women then ate their breakfast in silence, as the sounds of Matsuda's gorging carried on. Then promptly as they both finished, Ageha was back. The Guild Master took a seat at the table and then addressed both of them, "I want the two of you to go with Reasha on her trip to Crocus. This isn't a formal mission as Guild Master, it's a personal request," both girls looked at each other, and then back at Ageha.

"I don't mind going on a trip with Reasha-chan and Nora-chan, Master. But why the two of us?" Nora followed up on the heels of Asuka's statement quickly.

"Will you answer that at least, Master? Why should the two of us escort Reasha?" Ageha closed her eyes for a minute, and then opened them again slowly. Both girls could feel the intensity in their Master's eyes as she delivered her next statement.

"Because I want it to be the two of you. Tristan's out to Hargeon with December and Akemi on a mission from me, and I don't expect them back for at least a week and likely longer, given the travel time from here to Hargeon; and considering the nature of the job itself," both girls watched as Ageha's eyes told them what her words did not, Tristan was on special business. Not a regular job, but a job straight from Ageha; not from the Guild Master, but from Ageha to Tristan, with Akemi and December as support.

"I guess if you put it that way Master," Nora sighed, "The two of us can't say no." Asuka nodded in agreement. Even if she hadn't been with White Dullahan for long, she understood that anything between Ageha and Tristan was not to be questioned or inquired into, it was accepted.

"I guess the three of us are bound for the capital then," Asuka said with a blithe tone in her voice. Then she smiled, "Well, at least it's with Nora-chan and Reasha-chan."

"_I just hope she doesn't flirt with us too much during the trip,"_ Nora inwardly sighed. Suddenly Matsuda appeared next to the table, his eyes looking intently on his sister.

"What are you guys talking about?" the 5'8", 16 year old asked a little too loudly. Ageha shot Asuka a slightly hard look that said, _'No taking Matsuda with you.'_ Asuka pushed back her chair and stood up, drawing herself up to her full height as she did so.

"Master just gave me a job to do with Nora, Matsuda," she adopted a sorry look, "And I can't take you with me on this one, okay?" Matsuda's face took on the look of a sad dog, but he nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"Understood, Asuka," Matsuda then proceeded to head out the door to the courtyard, where Asuka and Ageha knew that he would probably sulk for a while, until someone or something would distract him. Having spent four years with the only other human company being his sister Asuka, Matsuda was very attached to her; not enjoying times when they were apart. But he could accept it if it was orders from either Ageha or Tristan, who he respected. Asuka sighed as she turned back to Ageha, a pained look on her face.

"I hate it when he acts like that," Ageha nodded her head, but her eyes reflected her resolve in her choice.

"I'm sorry Asuka, but it has to just be the three of you. I hope that you can understand that," Asuka nodded silently, and then got up and left the dinning hall to go to her room to change and shower.

"How long until Reasha leaves, Master?" Nora asked. Ageha turned back to face the younger girl.

"Reasha is leaving in two hours to get to the bridge before the area get's busy, and then from there will be a carriage waiting for you on the other side," Ageha laid out the details concisely, as Nora put them to memory, "The trip to Crocus will take around three to four days, depending on the weather and on Reasha's health."

"Should I talk to Tixus before we leave and have stock up on some of his medicine?" Nora interjected, although Ageha shook her head and continued without missing a beat.

"I've already had him pack Reasha an extra supply of her normal medicine, but good thinking," Nora's cheeks tinged red at the compliment, but she kept listening to Ageha.

"The return trip will be easier, as you can probably secure passage down the river back to where from the Crossings," Ageha took Nora's hands in hers suddenly, causing Nora look her right in the eyes, "If anything happens during either part of the trip or in Crocus, I want you to be in charge, okay?" a little thrill went through Nora's body at her Master's words. She was being entrusted to ensure the safe and secure passing of the trip. Her resolve showed as she answer Ageha while firmly squeezing her hands.

"Yes Master."

.:-:.

Exactly two hours later the three young women were gathered at the guard house and were waving goodbye to the rest of their guild mates before leaving. From her office in the main building Ageha looked out at the girls as they left by guard house and started making their way towards the large bridge that connected Rindou to it's sister city of Cornflower, "They're off now," She said to the man who sat in one the chairs in her office.

"I may be older then you Ageha, but I'm not blind," The older man was White Dullahan's resident pharmacist, Bastun Tixus. He was the man who had made Reasha's medicine using his knowledge of herb lore. Bastun was a man 46 years of age, with a head of black hair that was just being to show a sprinkling of white in it. Most of the hair on his head was short and full, except for in the back where it was drawn back into a small ponytail. Bastun drew himself up and out of the chair and stood eye to eye with Ageha, as he was also 5'8". His gentle brown eyes reflected his inner nature, a pacifist by choice who accepted fighting as a part of how the word worked, Bastun had been a traveling monk who had used his herbal medicines and kind heart to help other people. He had come to Rindou town on a barge that had been delivering a shipment of apples to Rindou Town when he had encountered Tristan.

Needless to say Bastun had felt drawn to Tristan, who proceeded to recruit him in the then fledgling Dullahan, shortly after the arrival of the Radcliffe trio, in the fall of X787; making him the 8th member of the guild after Akemi Kimi, Creed Blackblood and the Radcliffes, Ageha and Tristan being the founding two.

Bastun's attire consisted of loose brown pants that fell down to his laceless, leather shoes, a clean white shirt hung down over his pants an inch or so and over that a long cloak made of a heavy, durable brown material that fell down to the middle of his calves. It also had long sleeves that completely covered his arms, and it seemed to hang loosely from his skinny, but well-developed body. Bastun closed his eyes as he neared Ageha, leaning lightly on her desk, "I don't know what's going to happen in Crocus, but those three young women will handle themselves well, just mark my words," Ageha smiled faintly at Bastun's kind, yet strong words.

"I have complete faith in you, Bastun," the old man smiled warmly as he turned and made his way quietly out of Ageha's office," as the door closed behind him, Suzume appeared on the opposite side of the window then Ageha.

"I just don't see why you have so much faith in both that man and Tristan," Ageha sighed wearily as she sat down and started to go through and stamp several documents that were piled on her desk.

"Does everyone I trust have to be strong, Suzume?" Ageha asked a little sharper then she intended to. Suzume's lavender eyes darkened as she looked at the door which Bastun had just left through.

"If the Organization ever finds this Guild, how do you expect to protect everyone if your closest confidants are only people of this level?" Ageha could feel her anger rising as Suzume ripped into not just Tristan, who had saved both Suzume's life and her own, but the kind and helpful Bastun, who was able to calm fights between the more hotheaded members of the guild; and who was also able to negotiate with the Magic Council on behalf of the guild when she could not, given her lack of a proper history.

"Am I not allowed to trust whomever I want, Suzume?" she asked Suzume, already knowing what the younger woman would say.

"As a person, yes. As Guild Master of White Dullahan, I think that protocol demands you surround yourself with powerful mages and also ally yourself with other influential Guilds and also collect favors from the Magic Council."

"Well, Suzume, I shall make my own choices as I see fit," Ageha said definitively, cutting off any chance for Suzume to continue, "Now, onto the new quest listings for the job board."

.:-:.

Out on the sea, Tristan was basking in the glow of the warm sun. The salty air pricked at his nose as he stared off towards the horizon line in the direction of Hargeon. His cobalt blue eyes were sharp and full of energy as he voiced his inner thoughts, "I will put a stop to those who bring you suffering, Ageha. One day, I will bring down that bloodstained Guild with these hands."

"Tristan. Time for breakfast!" Tristan's head turned towards the source of the voice, and caught the eye of the ship's Captain, John Reeves. He gave the older man a crisp salute in response, a faint smile on his face.

"Aye sir!"

* * *

A/N:

Me: Whew! I made it! Next chapter will be up before Midnight! I did it! **Slumps over** I can now die in peace.

Spirit of the Inner Writer: Get up! You still have to get this thing beta read and posted before you can rest! **Hijacks my body and forces me to get up**

Me: Ha... No rest for those who take hiatus, huh?

Spirit of the Inner Writer: Nope, now get moving, before one of your characters decides to start talking **Vanishes back into my mind**

Thanks for reading my story again. Also, I still have a few slots for OCs, so use the Form from chapter 2 and submit your characters. Note: I am no longer excepting any Slayers.

But please, I could use a few villains, even low level cannon folder or even just please send them in.

Character thanks:

Masterofanime224: For Asuka and Matsuda Yukite

The Baz: For Reasha Faydon

And AkumaXHwaorang: For Bastun Tixus

I hope that you keep reading my story until the end, and I'll keep writing until I run out of HP.

Sincerely, Azrael DarkWings.


	5. Chapter 4: Many Faces, One Guild

A/N: Well, hello again faithful readers. It's me, Azrael Darkwings, back again with another chapter of White Dullahan.

Before I start the chapter, I'd like to say thank you to those of you who have helped me with this story, either by sending in your OCs, telling me about mistakes in my story's, grammar and spelling, or just being willing to chat with me about your characters.

If this sounds like I'm going to stop writing Dullahan, think again. My passion and desire for this story is making me unable to sit still at times, and I'm itching to keep writing for as long as I can use a keyboard.

Also, Vastler75, current character count, introduced in chapters at least once by name, is 17. With the unintroduced characters, the White Dullahan guild has a total of 26, with 9 of those members unrevealed yet in the current arc. That's right, 9 more personalities, all mages, who are going to be popping up in the Introduction Arc.

Yes, this bit so far has been the Introduction Arc. I hope to wrap it up in the next two to four chapters after this one. For the official record, I will no longer be accepting already joined members for the guild after this Arc is completed. Meaning if your OC hasn't shown up yet, they will be showing up in the next few chapters, unless they're a conversion add on, like Gajeel and Juvia.

And now, onward!

* * *

Chapter 4

A little after lunch time on the day after Reasha, Asuka and Nora departed for Crocus, Matsuda Yukite found himself at the edge of the forest outside of the guild's common grounds about half way down the road to Rindou Town. The young mage was sulking because he hadn't been allowed to stay with Asuka, even after he had been gently told so by both her and by Ageha.

_'I wonder where Asuka and the others are now,'_ as those melancholy words floated through his mind, a cheerful voice surprised him from his left.

"Good afternoon, Matsuda," Matsuda turned his head and came face to face with Val Radcliffe, whose face was plastered with his trademark happy-go-lucky smile. Matsuda's mood was instantly brightened, and he found himself smiling back at Val unconsciously.

"Afternoon, Val," Matsuda replied, as he drew himself up from his resting position and stretched his arms behind his head, "What brings you out here?"

"I noticed that you seemed down earlier, and I wanted to see if I could cheer you up," Val's position in life was very different then his brother and sister, and his point of view reflected it. The youngest Radcliffe was the side of things that neither Alpha nor Nora could really manage, he was the second mood maker of the guild, only a step beneath Akemi.

"Thanks Val, and yeah, I'm not very happy about being left behind by Asuka..." the 16 year old sighed as his eyes fell to the ground.

"I understand how you feel, I don't like it when Alpha and Nora leave me behind for missions either," Val's voice fell, reflecting his words, "But I think the best way to explain this feeling is something that Tristan once told me, 'The people that we hold the closest are also those who can cause us the most pain,'" Matsuda's eyes turned inquisitively towards Val, as he cocked his head like a puppy.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Val sighed as he arched his back and looked up into the cloudless, blue skies.

"I think that Tristan was trying to say that the people we hold dearest in our hearts are the ones we worry about the most and they're also the ones who can hurt us the most, even if they don't mean to," Val looked Matsuda in the face as he continued, "In my case, Alpha and Nora are the only blood related family I've ever known, since our parents died when I was around 3 years old," Matsuda's eye widened as Val spoke.

"I've never heard about that. Who else knows?" Val closed his eyes for a minute, thinking hard on Matsuda's question.

"Beyond the three of us, four people including you. Namely," he started counting on his fingers, "Master, Bastun and Tristan," Matsuda look turned from one of surprise to one of a questioning nature.

"But why would you tell me about something this personal?" Val smiled at Matsuda's straightforward nature.

"Because I feel like it lets me connect with you and because I felt like you needed a pick-me-up," Matsuda's face slowly began to show comprehension, and then he began moving away from Val. "Hey!" Val called out after Matsuda, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to get a job that we can do and then show it to Asuka when she gets back," Matsuda answered without turned around. Val's features lit up as he quickly caught up with Matsuda.

"Sounds like fun to me," the youngest Radcliffe laughed. Matsuda's features softened slightly as he looked towards the guildhall.

"I guess that there are people just like us in this guild, Asuka," Val's face appeared right in front of Matsuda, causing the older teen to yelp in surprise.

"You talking to yourself now?" Val inquired as Matsuda calmed himself.

"Nope, just reviewing the jobs I saw earlier."

* * *

At the same time as Val and Matsuda were making their way back to the guildhall, another pair of White Dullahan guild members were in the middle of a friendly sparring session. The two mages were Simone Rhodes, the guild's only proper healing mage, and Rex Armans, an 18 year old whose hand to hand combat skills were ranked on par with Alpha Radcliffe's. The two mages had just finished their warm ups and had placed themselves exactly ten feet away from each other.

"Here I come, Rex!" Simone shouted, as she kicked off the ground towards Rex and launching herself into an airborne kick.

"Thanks for the warning, Simone," Rex responded as he brought his arms in front of his face in an 'X' to block Simone's kick. Simone's kick struck Rex's arms, but the larger man remained unmoved, "Your hits are getting heavier, Simone. Put on a few pounds?" Simone's face flashed red for an instant, before her temper overcame her embarrassment.

"I'm going to get you this time, Rex!" Simone twisted her 5'8", toned body clockwise and used Rex's crossed arms as a springboard, propelling herself off and onto the ground where she used the force she had just generated to launch a savage drop kick at Rex's ankles. Rex's solid 6'3" body exploded off the ground to avoid Simone's kick, retaliating with a diving kick.

"Kuh!" Simone, still low from her drop kick, twisted her body and just managed to avoid Rex's kick, her long, chestnut brown ponytail flowing out behind her. As Rex stuck his landing and unleashed a downward kick with the combined force of his momentum and his own strength, Simone's eye clamped shut.

"Point, Simone," Rex said softly, as he flicked Simone's forehead with his right index finger. Simone's dark red eyes, framed by her long bangs, were slightly perturbed.

"Was that weight crack really necessary, Rex?" the yellow, spiky haired 18 year old's eye glinted slyly.

"Do you really want me to answer that question?" Simone's face puckered up, like she had just bitten through a lemon drop.

"Did no one ever tell you to respect your elders?" Rex's grey eyes flickered mischievously.

"My uncle taught me that along with magic. I chose to focus on the magic instead," his lips formed a thin smirk that caused Simone's features to tighten in annoyance.

"Well, would you like a refresher course?" she asked as she picked herself up and smacked her right hand into her left palm, her expression radiating an aura of a no-nonsense elder sister. Rex merely gave Simone a gesture of, 'come and get me.'

"I guess if you can ever manage to break through my guard, I'd consider-"

"I'm going to take you down!"

* * *

Half an hour later the two guild mates wrapped up their sparing match, Rex having hands down defeated Simone. The exhausted Simone sat down heavily beneath one of the shade trees in the courtyard, taking a long drink of water from her canteen.

"I'm beat," the 25 year old healer sagged back against the tree, her eyes on Rex, "Can't you at least pretend to be tired, Rex?" the younger man grinned back at Simone, his mischievous eyes again sparkling.

"Sorry, but no," he responded.

"I thought so, jerk," Simone groaned, as she rubbed her aching arms, "Still, you really treat everyone the same in a fight, don't you?" Rex's smiled faintly.

"I don't like holding back, and I guess that makes it kind of hard to learn from me, right?" Simone nodded earnestly.

"But at least I can find out my flaws after our fights and fix them the next time around," she gave Rex a scowl, "So I guess your banter isn't completely unless, although," she cracked her knuckles, "I'm not going to let that crack about my weight slide so easily," Rex simply responded with a playful grin and a towel, which Simone gratefully accepted.

"Not that I mind, Simone," Rex inquired tactfully, "But why did you pick me as your sparring partner?" Simone sighed as she closed her eyes.

"Because you're the only person in the guild skilled enough to train me well, able to teach period and around whenever I want to spar," Rex's head fell against his chest with a groan.

"So I'm just a convenient person?" Simone's eyes snapped open with a start, a retort on her lips.

"No, not at all Rex. It's just that you're easier to work with then Alpha and Tristan isn't serious most of the time, especially when he's training," Rex shrugged his shoulders in resignation.

"True. Very true. Alpha's mentality is one of getting almost obsessively stronger, and he shows it. While on the other hand Tristan's training mainly focuses on increasing his magical reserves, and sometimes I seriously wonder how he got on the inside track with Master," Rex leaned back onto the tree Simone was seated against and cast a calculated look at the guildhall, "Sometimes I feel like that there's a lot of things that Tristan and Master are keeping from us."

"Well, I guess that means that means we'll just have to stick around for the ride until they're willing to fill us in then," Simone rose to her feet with such a matter-of-fact ring to her words, Rex wasn't able to process the older woman's statement.

"So then we just have to stay in the dark? For how long? Isn't that just naivety and blind trust?" Simone's mouth turned into a gentle smile that caught Rex by surprise.

"It isn't blind trust, it's believing in the people who I've come to know in this guild over the past two years," she looked Rex in the face, a serious look in her eyes, "I decided on day one to trust the members of this guild, the people who have become my friends, and those who have become a second family to me," Rex's normal snarky nature was silenced by the earnest of Simone's words, but then he grinned again.

"You know, you'd be a lot easier to believe if you were actually able to fight," Simone's calm, collected face twisted and then broke into the appearance of an angry demon.

"I was trying to be helpful, but no," she spoke in a rumbling voice, her eyes aflame with barely contained anger, "You decided that you just had to put your foot in your mouth, didn't you?"

"If you can catch me, I'll let you pound me Simone," then Rex returned to the ring, where he proceeded to royally hand Simone three more consecutive losses.

As Rex and Simone were toweling off after the last fight of their four round match, another female member of the guild appeared with towels and refreshment for the two of them. "May asked me to bring these to you two, since you'd both fight until you dropped otherwise," The orange haired, 5'5" mage said in a monotone voice. Simone gave her a grin in thanks.

"Thanks, Hatsune." Rex accepted his towel in silence, unable to do much more then give Hatsune a quick nod. Hatsune responded to the pleasantries with a feint nod of her head, her face remaining as cool and unchanging as a statue's.

"Hatsune-san, Master wants to meet with you," Suzume stated as she appeared right next to Hatsune, causing both Rex and Simone to jump in surprise.

"What the heck?! Where did you come from, Suzume?" Rex and Simone asked in the same breath. The ninja turned to the two mages and offered a graceful bow at the waist.

"I was merely biding my time until Hatsune-san arrived, so I watched your sparring match in the meantime," Suzume responded off-hand, her face as expressionless as Hatsune's, but her eyes were clear and sharp, keeping a perfect watch on her surroundings.

"If it's Master's orders, I shall accept. Please lead the way, Suzume," Hatsune requested in her usual monotone voice. The ninja then led Hatsune away from Simone and Rex, passing through the guild's door and then vanishing from sight. Rex turned to Simone, an inquisitive look on his face.

"Any ideas about what Master has in store for Hatsune?" Simone shook her head in response.

"From the few times I've interacted with her, she isn't the easiest person to get along with. She doesn't show much in the way of facial expressions, and her voice usually stays in that monotone," Simone smiled slightly, "But she's got one thing special to her."

"What would that be?" Rex asked, his interest piqued.

"She's always 100% true to herself."

* * *

When the two women arrived at Ageha's office a few minutes later, Suzume rapped on the door twice and stood to the side. Hatsune acknowledged her with a nod, and then entered the Master's office. The first thing she noticed upon entering was that Ageha was not alone in the room, there was another figure. Ageha looked up from the guild's quest ledger and waved Hatsune over, "Come in, Hatsune. I've been expecting you," the twenty year old made her way over to the desk, and then realized who the other person was, Neel Alois. Neel was an 18 year old mage who had joined White Dullahan two years previously, and yet Hatsune had only spoken to her once or twice during that time.

'She usually keeps to herself, and she doesn't interact with most of the other guild members,' Hatsune thought to herself, as she looked down at Neel's thin frame. Ageha motioned for Hatsune to come closer.

"I want you to partner up with Neel, Hatsune." Hatsune's eyes narrowed slightly as she voiced her response.

"If that is your order, Master, I'll accept," Ageha's lavender eyes rose to meet Hatsune's bright green ones, and Hatsune could tell that there was more to the story then she was letting on.

"Understood, Master," Hatsune turned to meet Neel's small, silver eyes, "I'll be working with you for a while, Alois," Neel simply nodded her head silently, then rose and left the office with barely a sound. As the door closed behind her, Hatsune turned to Ageha, "Master, could you please explain this to me?" Ageha's response came as she massaged her aching temples.

"That girl has been here for almost two years now, and yet she still hasn't connected with anyone yet," the guild master sighed as she reclined in her chair, "Plus I can't get anything about her past out of her edge wise..." Ageha's eyes were hard to read, but Hatsune got the message loud and clear.

"I'll see what I can do, Master," Hatsune gave the answer that Ageha had been hoping for, not a solid yes or no, merely an affirmation of her intentions. But that signaled to Ageha that Hatsune's intentions were not just bravado or mere words; they held purpose and resolution.

"Thank you, Hatsune," as Hatsune's hand fell on the handle of the door, Ageha said one last thing to her, "Please take care of both that girl and yourself," The twenty year old paused for a moment, then, as she passed through the door, she gave Ageha her response.

"I will do everything that I can, Master."

* * *

The sun was just beginning to set as Matsuda and Val left the guild's outer gate and began making their way east towards the town of Mossvale, which lay just within the confines of the Worth Wood Sea. Matsuda turned and looked down at Val, a smile on his face, "This is going to be fun, isn't it?" Val returned Matsuda's full smile with a happy, energetic one of his own.

"Yeah, you can bet on that," As the two young mages made their way to the east, Alpha was watching them from the window of his dorm room, a sad, yet proud look in his eyes.

"You can do it, Val. I'll be waiting for you to get back, and then I'll listen to the story of what you and Matsuda accomplished on your mission," The eldest Radcliffe then swiftly turned and walked over to his door, where he paused to pick up and don his red and black coat, which fell to the middle of his knees, "For now, it looks like I've got some training to get in before the sun goes down."

* * *

End A/N:

And it is finished! After weeks of developmental hell and at least twelve layers of consecutive sunburns, from concrete/construction related activities that took a large block of my time, the chapter is finished!

I hope that everyone will forgive this wrenched, inconsistent writer and allow me to keep telling this story, which some of you gave characters to. From the bottom of my heart, I ask for your enjoyment.

I will not stop writing Dullahan until it is finished. However long it takes, I will complete this story.

Also, anyone developing pairings yet? Probably feels a little to fast, but I'm just curious. As stated in the opening A/N, this current part of the story is the Intro Arc, and I'd like to wrap it up in the next few chapters. Now, I'll still take some more characters, but they will have to be members who _**join **_the guild during the course of the next chapters and arc.

Anyways, I hope that all of you will continue to follow this story until that finale.

Your humble author, Azrael DarkWings.

Sorry! Almost forgot Character thank yous! *Slaps self silly*

Alpha Dragonis: Rex Armans

Mydearwatson: Simone Rhodes

Shiranai Atsune: Hatsune Otomaru

Sorry for not realizing this! Forgive me, if you can find it in your hearts


	6. Chapter 5: The Wild and the Tame

A/N: I actually planned for this chapter to come up first, but I suffered an enormous writer's block. Now I have an idea of what to do with the chapter, and around 5 guys and gals will be showing up.

Now, let's go!

* * *

Chapter 5

The same day that Reasha and her group left for Crocus, another White Dullahan team was in the middle of a job of their own, "Seems that the bandits mentioned in town really were out here after all," Hikage Kaminashi sighed as he dropped down onto a shelf of rock that gave him a clear view of the bandit group he and his team had been dispatched to subjugate two weeks previously. The black haired, 6 foot tall mage surveyed the teeming humans beneath him, his keen eyes taking stock of the activity below. Then the twenty year old dug his hand into one of the inner pockets of his sleeveless, black trench coat, withdrawing a small communication lachrima, "Hikage here, we've got the whole band in here, around forty or so grunts and probably ten to twelve mages, given reports from the townsfolk."

"I hear you, Kaminashi. Sounds like this is going to be a nice, quick and easy job," a voice responded through the lachrima. The voice belonged to a man by the name of Aroon Oritz, a 22 year old Volcano mage who was, as he loved to say, a natural born bad ass. Oritz was the kind of guy who attracted attention naturally, mostly from the fairer sex. Although he never stayed steady with one woman for long, he adored the girl he was seeing and respected women almost religiously. It was his casual, easy to talk to nature that had resulted in the tip that had led them to the bandit hideout.

"I can hear you as well, Kaminashi-kun," a second, calmer voice spoke after Aroon's, "From your assessment, the three of us can handle this many ruffians with ease," the second voice belonged to the senior member of their team, Lucian Vermont, White Dullahan's last S-Class Mage, "Also, make sure to keep that lachrima in good condition, otherwise I will have you reimburse me out of your portion of the reward," Aroon's stifled laughter made its way over the lachrima as Lucian's penny pinching nature directed itself towards Hikage, "That goes for you as well, Oritz-kun," the chuckling abruptly stopped, and then Lucian quickly and precisely lay out the battle plans for the two younger members.

"Oritz-kun, you will be opening this battle, considering the fact that your Volcano Magic is the best suited to throwing our opponents into disarray in this situation," Hikage voiced an interjection to Lucian's plan quickly.

"Wouldn't having me attack from my position be better, Lucian?" the older mage accepted his juniors word's graciously and then countered with his own.

"While you could attack from their blind spot and probably throw these miscreants into quite a fit, Hikage-kun, the mages in their number would be quick to pinpoint your position and effectively neutralize your movements," the validity of Lucian's argument was clear, but he continued on, "Although your idea is not without merit, it would then cause you to be removed from the fight for some time, and it would tip off our quarry as to the nature of the group they are against," Lucian's gaze fell towards the bandit encampment, "And I would rather like to get everyone back to the guild in one piece, if possible," Aroon smirked at Lucian.

"I didn't know that you were the sentimental type, Lucian," Lucian's eyes suddenly grew hard at Aroon's words.

"I'm not sentimental in the least, Oritz-kun. I'm merely thinking about the extra costs of having to put either one or both of you in the hospital or, heaven forbid, pay the costs of having to bury either of you," both Hikage and Aroon's faces fell as they saw Jewel signs swimming across Lucian's eyes. Then Hikage looked over at Aroon morosely.

"You really thought that he was the sentimental type?" he gestured towards Lucian, who was working his way through the individual expenses of hospitals. Aroon lowered his head slightly as he rubbed his ears with both hands.

"I have no idea what I was thinking, except for how he is one of our guild's S-Class mages," Hikage gave Aroon a measuring look.

"Hey, want to see who can take out the most guys?" Aroon's eyes lit up like a pair of stars at Hikage's wager.

"Now you're saying something that makes sense!" Aroon gave Hikage a sly grin, "So, what are we betting here?"

"Our shares of the reward," Aroon's eyes sharpened at the thought of having a larger portion of the 300,000 Jewel reward.

"You're on, Kaminashi."

* * *

A scant five minutes after the three men had finished their tactical review, Aroon Oritz opened up the battle with a display of raw power with his Volcano Magic, "Black Smoke!" Aroon's spell filled the canyon with chocking, heavy smoke that caused the bandit encampment to instantly fall into pandemonium, "First blood goes to me!" Aroon closed with his first opponent, who was struggling to maintain a semblance of posture both from the sudden loss of vision and clean air, "Say bye-bye," the thug turned in the direction of Aroon's voice.

"Eh? Bwahh!" the thug screeched as face became intimately connected with Aroon's first, the only part of his body that Aroon allowed enemy males to come into contact with.

"One point, me!" he shouted, as he closed in on his next target.

"Shadow God's Guillotine!" Hikage's voice rang out clear through the dark smoke, and from the sounds he was making, he was also racking up points; and at a dangerously fast rate.

"Time to give it the gas!" Aroon said under his breath. Then he fixed his eyes on several still moving bandits within effect of his Black Smoke, as the spell allowed him to see with perfect clarity, and poured his magic into his hands. With a grin on his face that would have caused the average person to faint at the sight of it, Aroon's natural badass nature took over, as he unleashed a storm of flaming orbs into the air and the spoke the spell's ridiculously simple, yet all too literal name, "Fireball."

* * *

Hikage Kaminashi had just finished his Shadow God's Guillotine, which in this case had been released from its ideal location, midair, and had delivered the diving kick with both feet to a pair of the bandit's unfortunate mages with the force of a rockslide. From his landing point, Hikage had quickly burst forward with a shout of, "Shadow God's Strike!" managing to quickly defeat five more regular bandits and another mage. Hikage could already feel the burden that his magic was placing of his body, but he kept going on with an almost demonic energy, knowing that should he fail, Aroon would profit off of his share of the reward, and most assuredly score with another gaggle of women when the returned to the town, "I was able to endure it earlier, but after we return to the town for our reward as heroes-! Ugh! The idea just makes me mad!" although as Hikage continued to gripe, an imposing shadow appeared in front of Hikage, its eyes shining balefully.

"Grand Smash!" the descending form of an enormous fist caused Hikage to instinctively cross his arms over his head to block the assault, but the giant's attack caused to his to find himself in a shallow pit.

_'This guy's might actually be a problem!'_ the thoughts raced through Hikage's mind as he tried to come up with a solution to the problem at hand, but then a massive leg appeared out of the smoke and caught him in the side, "Guh!" Hikage's breath was knocked out of him, but even so he managed to retaliate with a counter of his own, "Shadow God's Bellow!" A mass of shadows rushed from Hikage's mouth and blew away his opponent, along with a few other members of the bandit group, _'Looks like that got me clear, still…'_ Hikage's thoughts stalled as another bandit appeared, swinging a heavy club in his direction.

"Take this!" the bandit yelled, drawing the attention of his fellows. Hikage realized that the situation was rapidly going in the wrong direction, and decided to play all of his cards.

"Shadow God Mode: Active!" Hikage's body was wrapped in a cloud of shadows that instantly caused his magic levels to surge, causing his long black hair to dance around him and causing his light grey eyes to glow with confidence, "Now it's time to end all of this!"

* * *

Aroon felt the sudden spike in the magic around him, and he instinctively began gathering his own magical power in response, realizing that the stakes had just gotten higher. "Although Hikage has extremely high magic consumption problems normally," he said to himself, as he took down a pair of enemy fighters, "His Shadow God Mode makes that problem even worse," he ducked beneath a sweeping blow of a bandit's ax, and unleashed one of his signature spells right into the man's face, "Eruption Punch!" Aroon's magma coated fist sent the bandit flying, taking a pair of his friends with him, "On the other hand, his combat abilities go through the roof, and it wouldn't be a stretch to say that if Master ever holds an S-Rank Exam, Hikage might just be able to win through raw power..." Aroon unleashed an over the top punch against a poor bandit who happened to appear in front of him, holding a spear, to vent some of his energy.

"Ugh!" The bandit slumped against the floor of the canyon, his eyes going dull. Aroon looked down at him.

"Thanks for that, I needed a wake-up call," Aroon cracked his knuckles nonchalantly, turning to a group of bandits who had surrounded him during his monologue. A thin smile crossed his lips, as he put his fists into position, "Come and get me."

* * *

The fight ended just as the Black Smoke spell gave out, revealing that the entirety of the bandit group had been wiped out. Aroon completed a quick once over to marvel at his handiwork, "Man, I really went all out," the bodies of around twenty of the bandits were around him, causing a quick smile to spread across his lips again, "Oi, you still alive, Hikage?" a pause came, and then a tired voice responded to his question.

"Yeah, I'm alive. Ouch," Aroon made his way towards the sound of his teammate's voice, and fairly quickly came across Hikage, who was bandaging a long cut on his right arm.

"Looks like you've got a trip to Simone in your future," Aroon said blithely, causing Hikage to groan.

"It's either that or somehow managing to keep her from hearing about this thing, ever." Hikage's hand moved up to and rubbed his right shoulder, where the sleeve of his jacket, which he had used to bandage his wound, had previously been covering his black guild mark. Aroon gave his team mate a grin.

"But it looks like I won our bet," Hikage's head instantly fell into his hands. But then Aroon noticed something off, "Wait a second, how many of these guys did you beat?" Hikage's head stayed in his hands, his fingers tapping his temples.

"I'd say around eighteen," he looked up at Aroon, his eyes suspicious, "Why? You going to gloat about the difference in our scores?" Aroon shook his head, as a mounting dread started to weight him down.

"Because I only defeated one mage and twenty regulars. If you're 100% sure about your score, were coming up about five odd regulars and almost ten mages unaccounted for." Then Lucian's lean, 6'2" frame appeared next to them, a light coating of dust on his otherwise immaculate purple suit, with his white cravat loosened. Aroon looked up at the older mage, his lips refusing to give the question shared by Hikage and himself voice.

"If it's a question of 'where did they go.' I can answer that for you two," Lucian gestured over his right shoulder, revealing the bandits in question handcuffed to one another, the mages wearing cuffs enchanted with Magic Drain. Hikage was the first to find his voice again.

"How did you-" Lucian simply smile, and gently held up a fine sword that measured forty-three inches long in the blade, and another six inches for the cruciform hilt, bringing the total length to forty-nine inches long.

"I can say that it was mostly due to this sword, my dearest Lamentation," Aroon's face must have begged for more, because Lucian continued, "This sword is the most valuable item in my possession. It is the sole remainder of my former self, and it is my first and favorite sword. She has never failed me, and I shall always trust my life to its steel," both Hikage and Aroon were completely dumbfounded, the Lucian who pinched every jewel and found any way to make it stretch just another day longer, had a look of true and honest melancholy on his face that startled both of them. But the moment died as soon as it began, as Lucian's face suddenly became serious again, "Well, when we get back, as it seems I secured the largest portion of points, I will be looking forward to receiving both of your shares of the reward from you two" Lucian removed a special lachrima from his pocket and, by breaking it, caused a pillar of red light to surge into the skies, alerting the nearby Rune Knight group who would both pay them, first and foremost, and then deal with the criminals, know that the coast was clear.

"Think we messed up, betting our money on this one?" Hikage whispered to Aroon, as the Rune Knights started to appear at the mouth of the canyon. Aroon nodded his head sagely.

"Never again will I put my wallet on the line when Lucian Vermont is on the same mission as I am, or otherwise.

* * *

The sun had just started to make its decent as a pair of White Dullahan mages made their way stealthily down a sheer cliff face towards their targets, a group of kidnappers who had picked the wrong target.

"Would you shut those two up?" a tall man with a scar over his left eye and wearing a dark green vest bellowed at one of his compatriots.

The second man, who wore a red scarf around his neck and looked no older then nineteen, glared back at his boss, "Look, I didn't join this job to get time for kidnapping, this was supposed to be a simple robbery," The man with a scar's face turned red as glowered at his younger compatriot.

"Well, then you shouldn't have joined a dark guild then, sonny boy," the younger lad's face flushed as he started to retort, but the arrival of several other men stopped him.

"You causing trouble on your first real job, kid?" the tallest of the new arrivals asked, looking down at the younger boy over his rose tinted sun glasses. The younger boy simply turned his head away, his face red as a tomato.

"No. Not at all."

The two White Dullahan mages had stopped and hidden themselves behind an outcropping of sandstone about two hundred yards off of the kidnappers, one of them requipping a long sniper rifle fitted with a high powered scope, "Looks like we have seven hostiles down there Kisara, and two hostages as well."

Rickel Conners' 5'10" frame lay on top of the warm sandstone, one eye looking through her scope. Her clothing consisted of a sleeveless red leather vest over top of a white one piece dress that fell to her knees. Her dark brown stetson hat which, rested on top of her long, black hair, shaded her dark blue eyes from the radiant, but annoyingly hot, sun light, as she took stock of the situation, "You want to handle this one the usual way? Or go in tandem?"

"Just give me covering fire as needed, Rickel," Kisara's response was crisp and to the point. Rickel sighed, as she gave her teammate a quick once over. Even after the past week of intense travel, mostly by foot, Kisara's tanned 5'5" body showed no signs of fatigue. In fact her lithe, tan frame seemed more alive than it had when they had started their pursuit of the kidnappers, who had made the mistake of waiting within the confines of civilization up until past week, waiting for a fat ransom to be delivered as planned. When that had fallen through, the group had lit out of their base camp, which established in the mountains to the west of Rindou and Cornflower, and had attempted to make their way through the mountains and to the north towards the Matza Valley.

"You sure that you'll be okay with that?" Rickel asked softly, as she adjusted her scope and ran her fingers long the well-worn stock of her rifle.

"I'll be fine, as always," Kisara replied, as she pushed her unkempt purple hair out of her deep red, almost crimson eyes, "You should know by now, if it's close quarters, the only people who can beat me are in the guild," Rickel sighed, and Kisara dropped her arms to her sides as she started to take control of her magic energy, "Let's do this," Rickel's right index finger rested on trigger of her rifle, and then a reckless grin spread across her lips.

"It's go time."

* * *

The kidnappers were bickering over their next move, when one of their members was lifted off of his feet and slammed against the rocky ground by a blast of magic. In an instant, the members turned from a rowdy group of trouble makers into a coordinated team of seasoned individuals. The man with the rose tinted sunglasses immediately began to bark out orders. "You two, guard the hostages! You four, take cover and look after our casualty! Jim," he barked to the man with the scar over his left eye, "Find that sniper, and Jio," He said to the teen with the red scarf, "You stay right on my tail."

"Alright, bo-" Jio's sentense was cut short as Kisara appeared in front of the ringleader. Her eyes were sharp and bright, but without any signs of grace or mercy.

"Give it up, Kyle Randell. You've already lost," Kyle readjusted his rose tinted glasses, as he ran his eyes over Kisara's body, a wolfish grin on his face.

"Listen, I don't know who you are, girl, but you're not going to be able to defeat all of us by yourself," He eyed her ample chest, traces of lust in his eyes. "How about we make a deal?" Kisara's response was a sweeping kick towards Kyle's face.

"Like hell, scum," Kisara said, and her crimson eyes flashed brightly, "Just give up now."

"Speed Magic: Accelerate!" Kyle's magic boosted the power in his legs and allowed him to duck beneath the sweep of Kisara's kick, and then he launched himself forward, his right arm draw back, "Speed Magic: Hit and Run!" Kisara preformed a seemingly impossible display of strength by launching herself off of her unbend, firmly planted left foot and entering a cartwheel to avoid Kyle's attack.

"Weaponize: Fore Arm Blade!" Kisara's magic entered her right forearm and sprouted out in the form of a four foot long blade, which she then used to launch herself into a spin as she clasped her hands together and closed in on Kyle.

"Boss!" Jim cried, as he brought his own magic gun to bare on Kisara's head, "Take this! Long sho-!" Jim slumped over, a pinpoint shot of a static round shot from Rickel had put him down as well.

"Geez Kisara," Rickel muttered, as she zeroed in on the two men guarding the prisoners, "Learn to watch yourself a little more, I can't keep an eye on you all the time," she lined up both of the men in her sights and squeezed her trigger, "Piercing Dart," her spell, usually meant to handle heavy armor, easily went through both men and dropped them screaming in pain.

"Benny, Garry!" Kyle's attention on Kisara faltered for a minute at the sound of two of his men getting injured, and that cost him dearly.

"If you weren't with a Dark Guild, and you hadn't kidnapped those two girls, I'd actually might have admired that gesture," Kisara said with a sigh, as she appeared directly in front of Kyle, "But both of those facts are true, so you're going down here, big guy. Weaponize: Wrist Fangs," Kisara's magic flowed to her wrists, which then grew a set of three long, wicked looking claw blades, which she then turned on Kyle.

"Boss!" the downed Jio cried, as Kisara's claws flashed like lightening.

* * *

Forty minutes later Rickel and Kisara had finished handing off the gang members to a group of Rune Knights, who also paid them for their services and then left in a hurry. Kisara was cleaning her dark red short top, when Rickel came up to her and sat down on the boulder adjacent to her with a slight frown on her face, "Why didn't you kill that guy back there?" she asked bluntly, as Kisara finished wiping her hands on her dark colored short, which, combined with her short tube top, gave her an 'easy' appearance, at least in most people's eyes.

"Because the job said to bring the whole group in alive. Plus," she added morosely, "It would have been difficult to transport a dead body through these mountains easily," Rickel was slightly taken aback once again by Kisara's frank statement, but after the past year of working with her under Master's orders, she had come to accept some, but not all, of the quirks in Kisara's blunt, yet honest, personality.

_'Now if only you'd open up to the rest of our guild mates like this, Master and Tristan would be thrilled… Well, these things take time,'_ Rickel thought to herself, _'And every journey begins with a single step in the right direction,'_ she added before looking back at Kisara, "Now, we'd better start making our way back to Rindou," Kisara smiled faintly, as Rickel began to dig through her Requip space in search of her compass and a map of the area.

_'Thanks for taking that one in stride, Rickel,'_ the purple headed mage thought to herself, as she ran her left hand through her unruly hair and looked up at the sky, _'And thank you for giving me a place in this guild, Master, Tristan.'_

* * *

Ending A/N:

Whew! That just won the record for longest chapter, in the amount of written story, I think. Anyways, thanks for reading the chapter, and I hope to wrap this arc up in another chapter or two.

Also, if you guys have anything you think I can improve on, or spots you noticed were good for the reader, let me know. I'd love to have input that helps me make this experience all the more enjoyable and fun for everyone.

Also, I have **three** more OC spots left in the White Dullahan guild proper. I retain the right to ask to work with you on them, but I will look at every one of those submissions without Bias.

And, yes I have more, PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY AND THAT CRAWL UPON THE GROUND, PLEASE SEND IN SOME VILLAINS! I have some good ones, but I need more. I have already gotten some ones that work well with the story, but a Dark guild or two and a few tough groups and/or single villains would be magnificent.

Should I reach these numbers and receive enough, I start formulating a proper release schedule, and start working on a background Omake, for a few chapters down the line.

In closing, if anyone has made ships yet, I'd like to hear about them, if only for laughs and giggles. Only one ship has been made by me, yes there is one that I'm planning on pulling, but that is far, far, far down the line.

Regards, and I hope you keep reading.

Azrael DarkWings

Character Thank Yous:

Aroon Oritz: Mydearwatson

Hikage Kaminashi: Acnologia Prime

Lucian Vermont: Reven228

Kisara Bladefield: Trappedindarkness13

Rickel Conners: Alpha Dragonis


	7. Chapter 6: Pasts painful and forgotten

A/N: Welcome back folks!

First of all **Falls into dogeza** thank you for your continued support by reading White Dullahan, and in some cases sending in characters, both Members of the guild proper and for Villains. I cannot thank you enough for this.

Secondly: I'm hoping to wrap up the Intro arc with this chapter. One of these will focus on Tristan's group arriving in Hargeon and also Reasha's group arriving in Crocus. The others, including this one or amounting to only this one, will deal with introducing the last of the guild members and expanding a bit more on those who have already shown up thus far.

Lastly: I'm going to be updating my profile to include White Dullahan, a list of Arcs, already done, current and future planned.

For now, I could use a few more villains, and the OC slots for the guild are open for the time being, and I have no plans of closing them for the immediate future. If I don't receive any within a few days after this chapter goes up, I'll simply make a few more of my own.

That being said, Charge!

White Dullahan: Chapter 6

* * *

It was hot. Unbearably hot. The flames around him scorched his aching throat, and the thick, billowing smoke wasn't helping either. Cael Date ran through the flames, half dragging his younger sister Fiona after him. He could hear the sounds of fighting beyond the walls of fire all around him and his sister, and then, through a gaping opening in the walls of his family's house, he caught sight of his father.

"Give it up, fiends!" Asger Date stood in the moon light, towering a good head and half above the dark mages that surrounded him, and his face, under the muted silver light, was terrible to behold, "Cyclone Sunder!" the nearest group of Dark mages had their bodies torn apart by a massive blade of wind, which Asger manipulated as easily as if it were his own arm.

"Shadow Bomb!" a dark mage launched a mass of shadows towards Cael's mother Eva, who was standing right behind her husband. Without even looking, Asger snapped his fingers and created a column of wind that carried the bomb swiftly up and into the skies, where it exploded violently, but harmlessly. Asger turned to face the mage who had dared to try to lay a hand on Eva, his eyes filled with the same unholy fire that had once terrified both his enemies and his allies back in his days as a Rune Knight.

"You fools thought that you could lay even a single finger upon my wife? Ha!" Asger's magic power continued to shield both him and Eva from the dark mages, while he continued to release spell after spell towards them, turning a battle of attrition into a one sided massacre. But then with a rumble, section of the burning house fell, pinning Fiona beneath it.

"Fiona!" Cael's voice screamed, causing Asger's focus to falter for an instant, the moment that cost him his life. For through an almost indistinguishable gap in Asger's wind wall, a single magic bullet came, and smashed through his chest. Asger looked towards his only son, and a single moment passed between them, as the rest of the house began to fall towards Cael, like the jaws of a trap, they fell around him.

Cael awoke with a gasp, his hand by habit moving to his left eye, which was covered by a black eye patch. His hands were shaking, as the memory of the night when he had witnessed his parents murdered, and had failed to save his little sister from burning to death, came crashing down on his chest like a vice. But just as his panic began to overwhelm him, a firm, yet kind, hand touched his shoulder.

"You okay, kid?" Cael whipped around, his hand on the hilt of his word, his crimson, right eye flashing. "Whoa there kid, I mean you no harm."

"Who are you?" Cael's words were short and harsh, as they dripped with hostility. The old man before him had long, pure white hair that was tied back in a pony tail that fell a few inches down his back, and he wore a wide brimmed straw hat the seemed more like the top of an umbrella on his head. His clothing, oddly enough, seemed ill suited for traveling, as it was comprised of only a light teal yukata that ended at his ankles, and a pair of old, dark brown, leather sandals. The old man's face wore only a gentle smile as he returned Cael's hostility without batting an eye. The only other feature of importance that Cael noticed was the man's left sleeve, which was knotted up just above where his elbow should have been.

"My name… For now it matters not. But I do believe it's time for you to get off of this boat, kid. We've arrived in Rindou," so saying, the old man rose steadily to his feet, and made his way out of the dark, warm underbelly of the large barge that Cael had hitched a ride on down the river and back to Rindou on. The 23 year old mage quickly followed the older man out of the hold, and onto the docks where the barge was secured. Quickening his pace, Cael soon draw alongside the older man's long, steady gate.

"Hey, hold up," Cael said, his voice still hard, yet softer than earlier. The old man turned, his kitsune eyes still closed.

"Yes?" he responded. Cael's voice failed him for a moment. The old man's face softened, and he moved closer to Cael, "What's on your mind, kid?"

"Thanks," Cael muttered, causing the old man to lean closer.

"Speak up, kid. My hearing isn't quite what it used to be," Cael clenched his hands, as he turned abruptly on his heel and began to walk off.

"Thanks for waking me up earlier," the old man continued to smile as the young mage quickly vanished into the crowd. Then he looked at the noon sun for a moment.

"Too early in the day to drink yet. Might as well go and get some lunch."

* * *

Upon arriving at the guild hall, Cael made a beeline for his dorm room, stealthily making it to his room and closing the door behind him without mishap. But it was when he turned around that he found standing face to face with the smiling figure of Bastun Tixus, seated quietly in the only piece of 'frivolous' furniture Cael owned, an overstuffed leather chair.

Strangely enough, Cael's normal response to surprises, heightened heart rate and a flip into combat mode, failed to materialize. Sighing, he plopped himself down on the single chair next to his simple dining table, and looked across at Bastu,. "What is it, Tixus?" Cael asked quietly and respectfully, causing Bastun to smile faintly.

"I'm here to check up on you," the older man summed up Cael with a seasoned eye, "How did your mission go?" Cael sighed, as he relaxed into his stiff backed wooden chair.

"It was successful, and I was compensated handsomely for my time. The delegation of government officials are now probably butting heads over what to do with the latest increase in black market magic dealings," Bastun closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, relaxing in his chair.

"Good work, Cael."

Cael nodded, his medium length black hair covering his eye patch, "I was simply doing my job," he sighed before snapping his fingers, "I just remembered something else, here," he reached into his coat and withdrew a heavy, sealed packet, "I was asked to give this to Master," Bastun silently accepted the packet from Cael, his old brown eyes widening slightly at the sight of the emblem on the packet. He looked Cael in the face, a strange intensity filling his gaze.

"Do you remember who gave this to you?" Cael shook his head, his forehead wrinkling slightly.

"That's the weirdest part, I don't. All I can remember is that someone ran into me when I was at the Crossings, and then I found that packet in my coat, along with this letter addressed 'to whom it may concern'," Bastun quietly looked down at the emblem stamped in the wax sealing the letter, his heart rate slowly starting to increase; for in the wax was the emblem of a butterfly, on a field of dark purple wax, "Hey!" Cael called out, breaking Bastun's focus on the letter, "Is something going to happen, Tixus?" the old man remained still for a moment, and then he slowly nodded; his eyes unreadable to Cael as he spoke.

"I think that something is going to happen soon, Cael. Something very dangerous, and yet also something very important," the older mage rose to his feet, the letter in his hands, "I must show this to Master Ageha at once," With these words, Bastun left the room, leaving Cael behind. The dark haired mage sat still, as he processed the scene that had just played out in front of him.

"The hell?" Cael muttered to himself, "If this has Tixus all riled up, it's got to be big."

Ageha was alone in her office when Bastun entered, a complex expression on his face. She immediately placed the ledger she had been going over down and turned to him, her eyes reflecting concern, "What's wrong, Bastun. You look like you've seen a ghost." The older man smiled, and nodded his head gravely.

"I only wish I had, as I could have dealt with it much easier than this," he placed the sealed letter in the middle of Ageha's desk, and her expression immediately went dark, as she instantly activated the special barrier she had had placed upon her office when it was made 'just in case.'

"That seal was only used when I received orders from the top..." Ageha's hands moved slowly and methodically as she opened the envelope and removed the letter inside, her eyes turning grim as she scanned the contents of the message. When she finished, she lifted her eyes to look at Bastun, and the older mage could see pure rage filling Ageha's lavender eyes.

"What does the letter say, Ageha?" Bastun asked guardedly, as he knew all too well what Ageha's mood could be like when she was angry, especially in the case of the Organization being involved. Ageha took several deep breaths, as she rested her right hand on her chest, a motion Bastun knew as Ageha steadying herself. As Ageha's breathing came back to a steady, even draw, she opened her eyes again and looked at Bastun.

"It was from a special contact of mine who has been tracking the Organization's movements for me since the beginning of White Dullahan," Bastun's eyes widened, as the implications of Ageha's words hit him full force.

"You have a spy in the Organization?" Ageha shook her head.

"Not in the Organization per say, but that's probably the closest description that she would ever accept," she turned her face to the window, as a flicker of uncertainty crossed her face, "I just hope that our Hargeon Team is ready for a battle, because that's what the message was about; the Organization just stepped up their game to catch the mage I sent Tristan and the rest to recruit," Bastun sat silently for a moment before speaking again.

"All we can do is have faith in Tristan. There are no other teams close enough to assist, and none that we can send by ship to catch up with them either," the older mage fell silent, as he looked down at his hands. Ageha reached forward and took Bastun's hands tanned hands in her old, light skinned ones, and gave him a friendly squeeze.

"I always have faith in Tristan, because that's just the kind of man he is," she turned her head so that she was looking out of the window and out over the wide blue ocean, a faint smile playing on her lips, "He has never let me down once since we founded this guild, and I don't think this time will be any different."

* * *

Hatsune had woken up late that morning, as she had been up late; preparing for her mission with Neel. As a result, the morning of March 30th, X790, came upon Hatsune silently and without fanfare. It was nearly noon when the orange haired mage roused herself, and when she looked at the clock, she performed a silent stare down with it for a full minute before bounding out of bed like a started cat, her big, emerald green eyes flashing with adrenaline, "I will not be late! I still have fifteen minutes!" in a record time of five minutes and thirteen seconds, annihilating the former record holder Hanora Radcliffe's record by more than a minute, Hatsune had showered, freshened herself up, gotten dressed in her usual light gray-colored, thigh length dress with a white collar and her usual black leather boots that ended just above her knees and was out of her dorm, locking the door behind herself, and breathing heavily at the counter in the dining hall, just as May Crest appeared with the second round of breakfast food.

"Hungry, Hatsune?" May asked sweetly, too which Hatsune could only nod silently, her lungs still recovering from her high paced acceleration from earlier and the sudden loss of her adrenaline rush. May smiled as she placed a plate of french toast and eggs in front of Hatsune, who said thank you with her eyes, and then began eating with an incredible display of restraint, considering the gnawing hunger in her gut.

"C-can I... s-sit next to you?" a soft, half pleading voice suddenly peeped up from behind Hatsune. She swallowed her current mouth full of food, and then turned around to come face to face with her partner for the mission, Neel Alois. Hatsune tried to smile, and she motioned to the bar stool next to her.

"Feel free. I was expecting you, Neel," the younger, brown haired girl quietly took the seat, and May served her a plate of the same foods as Hatsune's. As Neel started on her meal, Hatsune turned back to her own, finishing it with the silent efficiency that embodied her entirety, complete the task before you to the best of your ability in a timely manner, and then move on. Although this made her seem almost mechanical at times, underneath that seeming unmoving surface, Hatsune was nothing more than a very kind, if mischievous, twenty year old young woman who loved her guild and her friends as much as any true member would. Hatsune watched Neel's pale brown hair, which was filled with several strands of blonde, gold, red and even blue highlights, head bob move slightly as she bent over her food, eating slowly and steadily through the entire portion at an even pace.

"Are you two going on a job together?" May's voice broke through Hatsune's thoughts and brought her back around, and also made Neel look up from her now empty plate. Hatsune spoke, as she had a feeling that otherwise nothing would be said.

"That's right," Hatsune replied respectfully, "Neel and I were cleared by Master to preform Neel's first 'official' mission from the guild," May paused for a moment, her eyes locking first with Hatsune's and then with Neel's, as if searching for something. But she quickly returned to her normal self, busily clearing away the pair's dishes and adding on top of them the rest of the guild's breakfast dishes with ease, a feat that could even leave Ageha impressed.

"Well then, I wish the two you safe travels and favorable results," May said, as she vanished through the kitchen double doors with the twin towers of dishes balanced with the silent grace of a life-long waitress. Then Hatsune turned to Neel.

"Are you prepared, Neel?" Neel nodded silently, and the corners of Hatsune's mouth turned up slightly to reveal a gentleness that most never got to witness, "Then let us be off, we have a mission to complete."

* * *

As Hatsune and Neel left for their job in Cornflower, Cael was practicing his swordsmanship in the guild's training arena. His quick, fluid strikes silently making quick work of an assortment of training shikigami that could only be accessed in the arena.

The shikigami themselves were nothing more than animated magical constructs, designed by Ageha and implemented by Tristan originally, to help simulate any number of possible situations in combat. Simply by marking the shikigami with any one of several unique command sigils, the constructs would then follow the protocols that the sigils contained. For today, Cael had chosen a random pattern, wanting to make sure that his skills hadn't begun to get dusty after the month long mission to protect the Magic Council's Black Magic Market delegation.

"That's a mouthful without even actually saying it," Cael said to himself, as he feinted towards one of the incoming shikigami before unleashing a vicious spin attack that cut through another shikigami that had been attempting to strike him from behind.

"Naive!" Cael yelled as he charged the first shikigami, which attempted to block his strike with its ax. The ax was split in two, with the continued blow cleanly decapitated it shortly afterward. Cael stopped short, causing the remaining pair of shikigami to miss their mark and bury their weapons in the ground of the arena. Never one to forgive an opening, Cael cut down the shikigami on his right Void, his all black katana, and then drove his left fist through the head of the one on his left, ending the drill with ease.

"Well done, Date-kun," A deep, rich voice sounded from behind Cael. The twenty-three year old mage turned smartly as the man who had created the shikigami appeared, a big smile on his face.

"Good to see you, Kain," Cael looked up at the imposing, 7' figure of Aslan Miles Kain, a man with a mane of fiery red hair and a body that, even when still, gave off an aura of immense strength. Dressed in an immaculate light brown leather jacket over a white shirt and with a pair of black trousers on his legs, ending in shiny black shoes, Aslan looked like he belonged in some sort of club, either as the owner or barman. Kain's big, cerulean eyes looked down on Cael with a glimmer of wit and intelligence that his otherwise monstrous frame belied, as he spoke again to the younger man.

"My my, you've made a mess of the shikigami again," the big man smiled kindly, as he activated his magic, causing the scattered pieces of the shikigami to restore themselves to their pre-battle condition, before returning to their assigned alcoves, "So, were they any good after my adjustments?" Cael gave the big man a respectful, yet devilish grin.

"I'd rather be training with Tristan or Lucian, or even you Kain. But," he cast his eye towards the shikigami, "They'll do. They'll do for now," Kain smiled, and then clapped his hands together, "What's with the clapping? Hearing some music or something?" Kain shook his head in a negative.

"I just remembered why I came down here in the first place, Master wanted me to fetch you," Cael raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Master wanted you to fetch me? What's up?" Kain shrugged, and then turned to head back to the guild proper.

"Master didn't say, but she wanted me to fetch you in a hurry, she seemed agitated as well," Cael went silent as he fallowed Kain, his mind rapidly processing the information he'd just been given.

_'Does this have anything to do with that letter I gave Master?'_

* * *

"I'm sorry to ask this so soon after your return Cael, but I'm deploying you and Aslan on a mission of the highest importance," Ageha paused, allowing both Aslan and Cael to process her order. Cael stood silently, his arms crossed over his chest, his red eye giving her a calculated look. While Aslan had his left arm crossed across his chest while he balanced his right on top of it, his right hand appearing to support his head.

"Does this have anything to do with that letter I delivered earlier, Master?" Cael asked quietly.

"I can't deny that Cael, unfortunately," Ageha bit her lip, a nervous look on her face. Aslan gave Ageha an easy follow up.

"Does this have anything to do with Tristan's mission of Hargeon?" the big man asked, his cerulean eyes watching Ageha closely. His Master sighed, a tired, wry smile on her face.

"No one can keep anything from you, can they Aslan?" the big man smiled in return.

"No one but Tristan, Master," the big man smiled at Ageha, and it was at that moment that Cael spoke up in response to Ageha's initial question.

"I'm ready to go, Master. Just give the order," Ageha's face showed an interesting mixture of gratitude and remorse that both men could see, and then she handed Aslan a sealed envelope, leaning forward as she did.

"These include both your directions to the rendezvous point and the name of your connection. Please," she looked at both of them with fire in her eyes, "Take the greatest care that you are not followed by anyone. Also, head out as fast as possible, our friend on the other end is by no means the most patient of persons."

Ageha turned to the calendar on the wall of her office, noting the date wryly, "March 30th, X790… Kah?" The guild master of White Dullahan sat heavily on her desk chair, her lavender eyes closed tightly, as she clasped her trembling hands together, "It's going to be okay, Tristan's the strongest person in the guild, and he will always come back. He promised me," Ageha turned her face to her seaward facing window, "Tristan, please," her voice broke, as the weight of the letter's contents descended on her like a wave, trying to crush her, "Please come home safely," her words came like a prayer, and were then carried away on the wind.

* * *

As the sun began to fall beneath the horizon, Tristan watched the clear skies, his mind already formulating a plan for himself and his teammate's mission in Hargeon, "Our mission is to recruit a female mage by the name of Elizabeth Braven, 15 years old. From the info Ageha was able to gather, Elizabeth's been working as an independent mage for last few years, and she's managed to get a fair bit of attention due to her unique magic…" Tristan trailed off, as he watched the sun sink lower and lower below the horizon, almost like it was going to sleep for the night.

"What brings you out here, Tristan?" an energetic voice boomed behind the Dullahan wizard, causing a smile to brighten his otherwise empty face.

"Just going over the ground work for my mission in Hargeon while I watch the sun go down, Captain," John Reeves made his way over to the railing next to Tristan, a whale bone pipe in his mouth, unlit, "By the way, didn't you promise your wife that you'd quit smoking?" Reeves shot Tristan a friendly glare.

"I did, boy, and I have quit," the older man gave the pipe a light thump against the rail, "I just can't seem to part with this old girl, too many memories," Tristan's smile turned a little forlorn at Reeves' words.

"Too many memories, huh?" Tristan turned his face back to the setting sun, "Sometimes, I wish I could say that," Reeves gave Tristan a questioning look.

"You've said that before, I think. About three years ago," Tristan smiled at the memory.

"I used to say things like that a lot, didn't I?" Reeves turned, chuckling to himself, "What's so funny, Captain?"

"Just the fact that you used the term 'used to' just now. Meaning, at least in my book, that you yourself think of those times in the past tense, and you've moved on," Reeves gave Tristan a grin, "Am I right?" Tristan paused, and then his smile returned.

"I guess you're right, Captain," Reeves smiled, and then motioned for Tristan to follow him.

"Now that we've dispensed with the heavy matters, why don't you and I share a drink for old time's sake eh?" Tristan gave the older man a grin.

"Only if you promise not to start singing sea shanties with that rusty baritone of yours after only two tumblers, sir."

* * *

Ending A/N:

First off, character thanks.

Cael, Asger, Eva and Fiona Date: DeathTheManic

Old man: Myself

Aslan Miles Kain: Myself

With that done, just had to make sure I didn't forget to do it, onto the real A/N.

Again folks, thanks for coming back for another chapter of White Dullahan. I will stop saying that after this Author's Note, as I think it might be getting very old. But still, thank you for your continued reading of my story.

White Dullahan is my first writing project of any long term commitment, and on that note, I just realized that White Dullahan's first year anniversary is coming up. A year ago last September, I started writing this story. Hard to believe, and I'm the idiot who started this adventure.

So I decided to set a goal for myself with this story, reach 50,000 words before the first anniversary of the story. If I manage to hit that goal, I'll write the first Historical Omake for White Dullahan. If I don't reach it, I'll try and have the Omake written and posted by Christmas. My reason for stating this is simple: give myself a challenge and at the same time, give you readers something to look forward to. Also, if I reach that goal, I will start, after a week or so 'cool off'' period, upload White Dullahan bi-monthly. So, if you guys like what you're reading keep on going, and I'll keep on writing for you.

Also, on the subject of Character submissions, I'm going to have the templates up on my profile page pretty quickly here, for ease of access. I'm still accepting characters, but now they'll have to be added into the guild as the story progresses; unless I like them instantly, which might be a challenge now. Character acceptation number, three.

For the record, this chapter is the end of the Introduction Arc, and now we're set to enter the next one, the First Mission Arc. If that name has already been used, sorry, I can't think of anything else to call it at the moment.

Any who, if you folks out there will keep reading my story, I'll be happy to keep writing.

P.S. to all, I do not own Fairy Tail.

P.P.S. If you want to read more when you're done with this, try out the other fic I've got running, Fate: The Eagle and the Lion.


	8. Chapter 7: The New Girl

A/N: Not sure what to talk about this time, so I'll be short.

As I said at the end of last chapter, I've set a goal for White Dullahan; 50,000 words by its first anniversary. Now that may sound very ambitions, and it is. That means I have 25,000 words remaining before I reach that goal as of last chapter, and I only have a little more than two months to type that in.

So I guess that this is going to be the first writing assignment I've given myself, with any time limit. Let's see how well I do, and I hope you folks enjoy the ride.

* * *

Chapter 7

John Reeves had made good on his estimate, the ship carrying Tristan, Akemi and December had arrived in Hargeon exactly at twelve noon. Tristan was the first member of the team to disembark, his dark blue eyes bright with childish excitement, "Thanks for the ride, Captain. Also, next time, no drinking, kay?" Reeves glared at Tristan from his place near the pilot's wheel.

"You really like to rub it in every time, don't you Tristan?" Reeves rumbled, as he nursed his aching head, "I promise you this though, one of these day I'll drink you under the table!" just as Reeves proclaimed his intent, his wife appeared next to Tristan, cracking her knuckles.

"John, didn't you promise to cut back on your drinking, as well as cutting out smoking completely?" Kendra Reeves watched her husband, as the man began to sweat bullets, his eyes locked on Tristan.

"Did you set this up, Tristan?" the silver haired mage shrugged his shoulders, although a playful smile plied at the corners of his mouth.

"I had no hand in this, although I'm glad that I'm not on the receiving end of your wife's anger, Captain," as Kendra alighted on the deck with the agility and dexterity she'd gained from her previous life aboard ships, being a captain's brat like her husband, and the mother of a pair of extremely over adventurous twins, who had connected with Tristan two years previously, she was not a woman to be trifled with; especially by her husband.

"It seems that you're in need of another talking to, my dear," the voice that Kendra Reeves used sent shivers down the spines of everyone present, even Akemi and December who were merely onlookers. As the couple vanished into the captain's cabin Tristan turned to Akemi and December, a serious look now on his face.

"Now, as an excuse to get away from here before you start hearing things you'll never be able to forget, what do you two think about starting our search for Elizabeth?" December silently nodded, while Akemi wasn't able to take her eyes off of the closed cabin door.

"Just what is she going to-" Tristan cut her off gently, shaking his head.

"Please don't ask for something like that. I really wish I wasn't able to give you firsthand details."

* * *

At the same time, on the other side of Hargeon, the person of their interest was just waking up after a long night of honing her magic. Elizabeth Braven was a fifteen year old girl who wielded a special magic that had aroused the attention of both Ageha and the Organization, Elemental Magic. As its name implied, Elizabeth's magic, which she had inherited from both of her parents, allowed her to control and absorb all four of the basic elements of fire, water, earth and wind. It was this magic that had allowed Elizabeth to rise above the masses of magic users in Hargeon and establish herself as a capable mage.

But today, Elizabeth had no work lined up, "Nothing at all," the fifteen year old muttered to herself, as she locked the door to her cozy apartment that had been her home for the past three years, "Well, might as well head to the General Board and see if there's anything I overlooked," Elizabeth reached into her pocket and took out her sweets jar, promptly popping one of the multicolored sweets into her mouth, causing a surprisingly bright smile to spread across her face.

"Good morning, Elizabeth," a friendly, masculine voice said behind her.

"Morning, Mr. Rayleigh," The dark haired, middle aged manager of her apartment towered over Elizabeth's 5'3" by more than a foot. The older man smiled, and then he gave her a quick once over.

"You're looking very nice today, Elizabeth," the young mage couldn't maintain her usually poker face around Riley, who had offered her a place to stay when she had first come to Hargeon, and had afterward become a father figure to her.

"I'm just wearing my usual clothes, Mr. Rayleigh. Nothing new here," Elizabeth's attire today consisted of a blue mini jacket over a plain white shirt and a frilly blue skirt. Her legs were clad in a pair of white knee high socks encased in a pair of blue boots. Her midnight black hair reached down to the middle of her back, and was streaked throughout with strands of red, blue silver and green, with her bangs swept back behind her ears. Riley smiled warmly at her.

"Regardless, you still look very nice, Elizabeth. Going to check the General Board today?" Elizabeth nodded.

"I wasn't able to get anything planned ahead for today, so I'm stuck with whatever is posted," the last part of her sentence came out with a grumble, but Rayleigh smiled brightly at her.

"Well, at least you've got the initiative to work hard, and that's always going to be a plus in your favor," Elizabeth smiled back at Riley, and then produced a sealed brown paper envelope, "What's this?" Riley asked, as she pushed it into his hands.

"This month's rent, along with next month's," Rayleigh's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"Just how many jobs did you do this month Elizabeth?" he asked incredulously, but Eli was already moving away from him and towards the General Board in the middle of town.

"A girl's gotta have some secrets, Mr. Rayleigh."

* * *

After leaving the dock section of town, Tristan and his team made their way to one of Hargeon's taverns, where they snagged a table in the corner of the packed establishment and laid out their next move, "Because Ageha didn't give us much to go on, I think our best course of action is going to be a little bit of old fashioned detective work; canvasing the area," December instantly shot Tristan's idea down.

"I don't think that's going to go over very well, Tristan. Seeing as White Dullahan isn't one of the most prominent guilds to non-mages, we're not going to have an easy time picking up any details on this Elizabeth Braven," she sighed, and took a long drink from her jasmine tea. Akemi voiced her agreement with December as she did.

"I'm with December on this one. Seeing as the three of us are relatively unknown here in Hargeon, I don't think most folks are going to be very open with us about one of their neighbors," Tristan's head fell, as he started to think of another strategy. Nothing came, so he raised his head again, and gave both girls eye contact.

"So, what do you two purpose?" his question was delivered evenly, but with an acceptance that most people wouldn't have had. The two girls looked at each other for a few moments before turning back to Tristan. But before they could answer, a brawny older lady arrived, bearing their orders.

"Desert platter for you dearie," she said as she placed a plate of small cakes and other assorted sweets in front of December, "A garden special for the beauty in the corner," as she placed a perfectly arranged basket of vegetable salad in front of Akemi, "And a grilled cheese sandwich and french fries for the gentleman in blue, with another vanilla milkshake," Tristan smiled happily to their server.

"Thank you, ma'am," but before the woman could turn away, he followed up with, "By any chance, would you happen to know a girl named Elizabeth Braven?" the older woman paused for a moment, as she turned about and appraised Tristan with a calculating look of measured caution.

"Who wants to know?" she said evenly, as both December and Akemi watched with batted breath. Tristan returned the woman's gaze with a look of perfectly controlled serenity.

"Someone who wants to look after her," Tristan said with resolution, as he turned back to his food, munching down on a french fry. The older lady looked first at Tristan, and then at Akemi and December.

"You folks members of a guild?" December kept silent, but Akemi responded with an affirmative nod, "Which one?"

"White Dullahan." Tristan said quietly. The woman stopped for a moment to think.

"Never heard of it. What's the guild mark like?" December lifted her right hand and turned it around so that her guild mark was visible. The older woman studied it for a moment, and then nodded her approval, "Seems genuine," Tristan looked up at the woman again and swallowed his current mouth full of sandwich.

"You a mage?" Tristan asked pointedly, causing the woman to give him a sharp look of her own.

"A fairly competent one, I'd like to think." the woman replied, moving closer to the group. "You folks are the second group to ask about Eli today, so I had to check you first," Tristan froze, his eyes growing sharp.

"Do you happen to remember the guild mark of the first group?" he asked, his body tensing up. The woman's face looked pained for a moment, as she tried to remember.

"I can't rightly say, but I think that their guild mark was some sort of black circle, highlighted with red and purple," Tristan stood, placing the total of their meals worth on the table with a healthy tip besides.

"Any idea where Elizabeth might be right now?" the woman nodded quickly, Tristan's sudden change of demeanor causing her to unconsciously take a step back.

"Eli isn't in any kind of danger, is she?" Tristan's eyes were hard, and he words were cold and filled with barely contained ferocity.

"If we can't get to her fast enough, she sure as hell will be," December and Akemi were already on their feet, December resting her hand on Crusade's hilt. The woman seemed to tumble over her thoughts for a moment, but quickly found what she was looking for.

"She mentioned yesterday that she hadn't been able to line up any work for today, and that she was probably going to check the General Board in the center of town, where folks put up any kind of task that they need," she paused, her eyes filling quickly with worry, "Is Eli in any danger?" Tristan was already on his way to the door, with December and Akemi close behind.

"Next time, be sure that you're read up on your Dark Guild marks, ma'am," the moment the team was outside the tavern Tristan turned to Akemi and December with a look of complete sincerity, "This mission just took a turn for the worst, now we've got to locate and secure Elizabeth along with dealing with the Endless Serpents," Akemi's eyes widened, as the name crossed Tristan's lips.

"Why are they here?" Akemi asked, as Tristan clenched his teeth in anger.

"They're an affiliate guild with a particular group that Ageha and I dealt with in the past," he paused, as he looked both girl' steadily in the face, "They used to have a base camp outside of town, but we destroyed it years ago," Tristan chuckled darkly, "Never thought that they'd come back to this area again," December interjected, a questioning look on her face.

"But what do want with Elizabeth?" Tristan paused for a moment, and then he removed the wrappings from the item he had kept by his side for the entirety of their trip.

"The Endless Serpent guild specializes in 'tag and bag' missions. The higher ups in their parent guild probably had their eyes on Elizabeth, the same as us," with the wrappings removed, Tristan revealed a simple longsword, devoid of any markings, encased in a scabbard made of a rough, dark colored material, "The parent guild, also known as the Organization by its clients and enemies, deals in rare and exotic magics. They also don't care what means are used to get them," Tristan affixed the sword across his back with a thick, dark brown belt, and then looked back at the girls, "Anymore questions?" Akemi nodded.

"If we happen to run into any of the Serpents, what's the drill?" December silently acknowledged the same question. The look that Tristan gave them shook them down to the soles of their feet.

"Prioritize finding Elizabeth, but, if any of those bastards attack you or they reach Elizabeth first," his dark blue eyes were as frigid as an arctic blizzard, "Permission to kill."

* * *

Elizabeth had reached the General Board, which was really nothing more than an unofficial area between a pair of warehouses with the parallel running walls covered with any kind of job imaginable. Everything from part time work on the docks and finding with lost pets to full time work in one of the warehouses to mage work. A grey area for town officials, the area was allowed to thrive and had spread over the years into an effective employment tool used by sailors to make some extra money while in port, or for some of the more unsavory types, a place to do business discreetly.

"Okay, I'll give the mage section a quick look first, and then I'll look at the docks section if I can't find anything there," Elizabeth said to herself as she made her way through the crowd of bodies that choked the street like ants at a picnic. Elizabeth ducked and weaved her way through the crowd with the tenacity of an experienced street urchin, carefully making her way through the crowd of jostling elbows and half heard curses before she arrived at the mage's section of the walls, which occupied the three sides of a small dead end alleyway just off of the mainstream.

"Hey Elizabeth," a peppy, high pitched female voice suddenly spoke up beside her, which nearly caused Elizabeth to jump out of her boots.

"Hey Muriel," she responded evenly, just managing to control her surprise.

"Hey Eli," another high pitched voice said from her other side, although this time it was male. Elizabeth sighed, as she turned to the biggest trouble makers in town, as well as her first friends her age after she had arrived in Hargeon, Muriel and Avon Reeves, a pair of dark haired, aqua blue eyed twins, Muriel being the older sister of the brother and sister duo.

"Hello, Avon," Elizabeth said coolly, causing the energetic Avon to sigh.

"Come on Eli," he said, coming a little closer, "I'm just being friendly," before Elizabeth could tell him to stop calling her 'Eli' again, Muriel intervened with perfect timing.

"Oi, lay off Avon," Muriel stepped between her brother and Elizabeth as she spoke, "You know that Elizabeth doesn't like it what you get up in her space, and…" she turned to Elizabeth with a wink, "She really doesn't like presumptuous men," Avon froze in place, and then crumbled into the corner of the alley opposite to the girls, where he devolved into a weeping mass. Muriel turned to Elizabeth with a smile on her lips, "I think he'll leave us alone for a while now," Elizabeth gave Muriel a small smile of gratitude, and then turned back to the board in front of her.

"Thank you, Muriel," she said softly, though the energetic Muriel still heard her.

"No problem, Elizabeth. Anyways," Muriel turned her attention to the board in front of her and Elizabeth, "Looking for work too?" Elizabeth kept her focus on the posters in front of her, but still raised an eyebrow.

"'Too?'" she kept scanning posters with an experienced gaze, "You and Avon got permission from your parents to go out on a mission?" Muriel giggled nervously in response.

"Not exactly~?" Elizabeth kept scanning the job postings, but she shivered unconsciously.

"You have any plans on how to sooth your mother's wrath then? Otherwise, you're toast," Muriel kept silent, and Elizabeth could tell that there was no plan and, as per their modulus opus, Muriel and Avon were acting independently of their parent's wishes.

"Well," Muriel chuckled nervously, "I'm hoping that my idiot brother and I can do something this time around that will make mother forgive this one."

"Can your father even get a footnote in this plan?" Muriel grinned broadly.

"Nope. Papa just loves me and Avon too much, so Mama picks up the slack on all of us," The two girl's shared a nervous giggle. Then a sudden drop of noise around them caused Elizabeth to perk up, "What's wrong, Elizabeth?"

"Muriel, isn't it strange that no one besides you and Avon have entered this part of the General Board?" Muriel's eyes suddenly turned serious, as she realized that Elizabeth was right. She turned to her brother, a warning on her lips.

"Avon! Get over here!" the younger boy snapped out of his one man pity party and instantly moved next to Elizabeth and his sister.

"Nee-chan?" The three teens suddenly felt sick, as an oppressive presence entered the alleyway, blocking off their exit route.

"Well look at this, our little miss has made friends since she came to Hargeon," a dark skinned man with a trio of scars down his face on the right side of his face said maliciously, as he and seven other hooded mages entered the alleyway. Elizabeth's mind raced as she tried to remember if she knew the man in front of her.

"Who are you?" the dark skinned man sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Really? Such a cliché line?" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and started to speak again, but the dark skinned man held up his hand, stopping any further questions, "My name is Darius Volaire, and I am a representative of the Endless Serpent guild. We're very interested in having you join us, Elizabeth Braven," Elizabeth moved her feet in order to better face Darius and his men.

"Why is your guild interested in me, Mr. Volaire?" She said evenly, as Muriel and Avon also shuffled their positions. Darius simply smiled kindly.

"My superiors in my guild have heard of your rather unique magic, and we would like to help you develop it in a more…" he paused for a moment, searching for the right word, "Efficient method of cultivating it," Elizabeth's instincts started to kick in, and a sickening feeling struck her heart.

_'These men are not to be trusted,'_ she thought to herself, as she tried to come up with a plan. Volaire smiled, and the expression made Elizabeth's stomach turn, "You aren't going to be very popular with women if you do that, you know. Darius simply shrugged off her barb offhandedly.

"I don't really mind that, all I need is money in my pocket and power over my section, that's all I've ever wanted," Elizabeth slowly lowered herself to enter into a defensive stance, her right side towards Darius and his group. Darius smiled again, revealing twin rows of perfect, pearly white teeth, "You are not going to get away from us today, Elizabeth Braven. So how about you come over to me and my men quietly, and I'll let your friends leave peacefully," Elizabeth gritted her teeth and glared towards Darius, her actions answering his inquiry. Darius motioned for his men to advance with his left hand, which allowed Elizabeth to notice that his entire hand was covered by burn tissue. As she began to preparer to attack, suddenly Muriel got the ball rolling with a spell of her own.

"Water Make: Fist!" a hand made out of deep green water appeared in front of Muriel, and then shot out towards the man on the left side of the alley, taking him solidly in the head with a brutal blow, "We're here with you, Elizabeth!" she shouted, hoping to attract the attention of some of the folks out in the broader road way. Elizabeth smiled faintly, as she gathered a ball of flames between her hands.

"Fire ball!" the flames sprang towards the nearest of the henchmen and struck his cloak, causing him to grunt in pain. From behind the girl's Avon leapt forward and attacked a third henchman who was getting too close to Muriel with a drop kick before driving his water jet propelled fist into the man's solar plexus.

"Hydro Booster!" Avon yelled, his voice cracking as he did so making both Elizabeth and his sister giggle. He didn't turn to them, but engaged another henchman with a look of shattered pride on his face, "Why does that happen every time I do something cool?" he asked rhetorically, but Elizabeth answered anyways, as she struck deeply into another henchman's face with her earth magic enhanced fist.

"That because you're trying to look cool, you're just setting yourself up for failure if you- Look out!" Elizabeth's voice rose as a spiraling lance of red and purple streaked past Avon's head and embedded itself in the wall behind the three teens before vanishing. Elizabeth's heart began to sound very loud in her ears, and she could feel her magic begin to destabilize, "Tch, I missed," Darius groused, as he motioned for another wave of henchmen to charge against the teens.

"Hey! What are you guys do-urk!" Elizabeth's blood ran cold, as a regular of the street tried to see what was happening in the alleyway, and received a dagger to his stomach for his troubles. Beside her, Muriel's eyes flashed with fear.

"H-hey, he's dead isn't he?" Muriel's said, fear evident in her voice, "Just who are these guys?" Elizabeth, while shocked by the sudden death of a bystander, managed to stay focused on the situation at hand and continued to look for an escape route. Darius smiled wickedly as he motioned for all of his men to move at once, completely blocking the entrance to the alleyway.

"Looks like this is the end of the line for you brats," he grinned, flashing his teeth like a shark, "Capture Braven, and kill the other two, boys," Elizabeth's thoughts accelerated to the point where the world seemed to stop around her.

_'I have to get Muriel, Avon and myself out of her, but how? Think Elizabeth! Think!'_ then it hit her, and she unconsciously allowed a smile to spread across her lips. "Muriel, Avon," she spoke with a hushed whisper, "On my mark, garb my arms and drive all of you magic directly into the ground, you got it?" Muriel nodded, and Elizabeth could tell she was pretty shaken up by the offhanded murder that Darius had ordered without a second though, but Avon nodded fearlessly, his eyes still bright and ready to fight. _'Now if you did that more often, Avon,'_ she thought to herself, _'You wouldn't be a half bad kind of guy,'_she then turned back to Darius and his goons, her hands directed at them palms open, which caused Darius smiled again.

"You want to surrender now brat?" he laughed morosely, "Well to bad, that ship has sailed," In response, Elizabeth slapped both of her hands on the ground and shouted out the name of her desperate gamble.

"Pillar of Flames!" in a flash, a towering column of counter-clockwise circling flames burst out between the two groups, stopping Darius and his party in their tracks, "Now Muriel! Avon!" in the split second after her words, the twins grabbed a hold of Elizabeth, and the unleashed every ounce of magic energy they could gather into the ground, causing a pillar of water to grow beneath them until it was even with the roof tops, "Now run for it!" Elizabeth shrieked, and the three teens broke into a mad dash across the rooftops of Hargeon and away from Darius and his men.

* * *

Tristan's attention was immediately captured by a pillar of fire that rose up from an area of Hargeon at least a mile away from where December, Akemi and himself were located. He turned to the girl's with a slight smile breaking up the dark look in his eyes, "Odds that our girl's in that area?"

"I wouldn't want to bet against a stacked deck, Tristan," December said lightly, as her hand came to rest on Crusade's scabbard. Akemi nodded in agreement.

"Then I'm going to take the most direct route to our girl, if you catch my drift," before either of the girls could ask, Tristan had already taken off towards one of the nearby houses, which he proceeded to scale with the ease of a seasoned burglar, much to the shock of a passerby. Akemi could only shake her head as she took off in the direction of the fiery pillar, with December followed right beside her, watching Tristan fly over the rooftops with the grace of some bird of prey.

"Is he always like that on missions?" she asked Akemi, who laughed lightly at Decembers serious question.

"Only if he's scary serious like that. Otherwise he's quick and efficient, but pretty easy going," Akemi replied.

"As easy going as Kerensky?" Akemi tittered.

"Not that bad, but similar."

* * *

"Achoo!" Artem sneezed, causing Creed to give him a surprised look.

"You coming down with something?" Artem shook his head.

"Nope," Artem replied, "I think someone was bad mouthing me just now."

* * *

And there it is! White Dullahan, chapter 7!

That was fun to write, and I must confess, I didn't expect a side character to suddenly get promoted like that. To answer any question about it preemptively, yes, Muriel and Avon are the children of John and Kendra Reeves.

Originally, only John Reeves was going to show up, but then I realized that I could use him a little more. So I added his wife Kendra. What was supposed to just be the two of them and a pair of unnamed children, who Tristan would have mentioned at some point, became the energetic duo that befriended Elizabeth Braven when she first moved to Hargeon three years previously.

Any ways, **OCs are still being accepted**, although now they're going to have to be added into the guild as time goes on. So they'd probably have to be introduced in an arc or be acquainted to a current member of the guild.

Anyways, I hope you've enjoyed the chapter and are also looking forward to future ones to come.

**Special Note:** Should I name each of the chapters from now on? Also going back and naming the previous ones? If so, pm me what you think the chapters should be titled. Names chosen will be thanked in the next closing A/N.

Character Thank Yous:

Elizabeth 'Eli' Braven: sweetopal15

The Reeves family, John, Kendra and the twins, Muriel and Avon: Myself, Azarael DarkWings

Darius Volaire: Azarael DarkWings. Previously introduced in the prologue as the user of Shadow Blaze.

Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 8: Hargeon Brawl, Part 1

A/N: Hello again, everybody, and welcome back to another chapter of White Dullahan. I am your host, Azrael DarkWings, and tonight I hope that-! Purges Professional Narrator Mode

Good heavens, I have no idea what just came over me guys. Anyways, welcome to another chapter of White Dullahan.

Once again I thank you for your continued reading of my story. For this chapter, I was faced with an interesting choice of where to go; either stay in Hargeon and focus on Tristan's team and their search for Elizabeth Braven, or I could follow Aslan and Cael with their rendezvous with Ageha's informant in the Organization.

At that point, I decided to make them into two separate parts of the arc, as well as at least a chapter or two on the members of the guild that are away from Rindou when they first appear.

This arc is, hopefully, going to be as long as the Introduction Arc, and maybe reveal some recurring and long run villains.

That being said, the contest for name suggestions for the earlier chapters is still on, and now we're into the next one now!

* * *

Chapter 8

Elizabeth, Muriel and Avon ran along the rooftops of Hargeon like a trio of bats out of hell. "Keep going, we've got to make some distance between us and them," Elizabeth shouted, as she leaped a street length between buildings and rolled to cushion her fall. Muriel alighted beside her with the grace of a cat, while Avon landed squarely on his backside, causing him to curse under his breath.

"That's going to leave a mark," he said ruefully, rubbing his aching posterior. Muriel tittered at her younger brother through her hands. "What's so funny, Nee-chan?" Avon muttered morosely.

"Well, you're still able to complain at small things like your butt at times like this." Avon tried to glare at his sister, but his attempt fell flat as the trio noticed a group of dark clothed figures dashing over the rooftops after them. "These guys are persistent, aren't they?" Muriel muttered as she shaped a mass of water into bows and arrows. "Water Make: Bow!" Launching several shots towards the closing figures, Muriel managed to take down two. "Damn, I meant to take more of them."

"No problem, let me handle this," Elizabeth said, as she conjured a mass of her own magic power. "Scorching Burst!" Utilizing her Fire magic, Elizabeth generated a mass of compressed heat directly in the path of the pursuing figures, which she promptly ignited when several of them entered the target area.

"Augh!" Several of the figures retreated from the flames, but at least five of them collapsed inside of the flames, suffering heavy burns.

"Nice one!" Avon trumpeted, as he leaped across a narrow alleyway. "That will buy us some time." Elizabeth, although happy that they had gained some distance from their pursuers, felt a small amount of pity for the people caught up in her Burst. Muriel, noticing her emotions, gave her a quick slap on the back.

"It's either them or us right now, Elizabeth, don't forget that." Elizabeth nodded silently, as the trio continued their flight across the rooftops of Hargeon.

* * *

As the three teenagers were making their way across the rooftops, December and Akemi were making their own way towards the spot they had divined as the best place for their escapees to hide, the address of Elizabeth Braven's apartment.

"Wouldn't the Serpents be watching Elizabeth's house?" Akemi voiced her concerns about their target location to December. December kept on moving towards their destination, but responded evenly as she did so.

"I think that Tristan's having us cover two fronts for a pretty good reason, he expects that there will be enemies at Elizabeth's apartment." Akemi's mind quickly put the remaining pieces together, and she bit her lip in frustration.

"So Tristan is having us go to a lower priority location, while he takes a more direct path straight into danger," Akemi sighed, "I wish that he'd stop being so reckless, he isn't immortal." December smiled at her friend's words.

"You've known him longer then I have, so you should know more about him." She made a sharp turn, her eyes catching Akemi's for a moment in the process. "So why is it that you don't trust in him more than me?" Akemi went silent, as they exited the alleyway and entered the street that Elizabeth apartment was located on. Then just before they reached the final turn, she responded to December's question.

"Because I care about him, and I've seen him almost get himself killed because he refused backup on a mission straight from Master years ago." She paused for a moment, causing December to turn back to her.

"You have crush on him or something?" Akemi shook her head, while a thin smile played at the corners of her mouth.

"When I first came to the guild, I'd lost everything in this world that I cared about. My family, my friends and even my hometown." December moved to speak, but Akemi stopped her by raising a hand. "At that time, I was obsessed with revenge, pushing myself to the limit to gain enough power to be able to completely destroy those who had taken everyone and everything from me. But then one day, when I had completely drained my reserves and almost got captured by the dark guild I had been tracking, Tristan saved me and brought me back to the guild."

"When did all of this happen?" December asked, "I didn't know that you used to go solo." Akemi smiled ruefully.

"Back when the guild was young, everyone went on missions to boost White Dullahan's reputation. Even Master went on jobs." December's eyes widen in surprise.

"Did you ever go on missions with her?" Akemi shook her head.

"She and Tristan would sometimes team up, but she was almost always solo. Believe me, Master's not a woman to be trifled with, at least from how Tristan puts it." Akemi looked up at December with her hetero-chromatic red and brown eyes. "I think that, at another time just-"

"Hello ladies, mind if we join you?" Both girl's turned in perfect sync to find a group of seven sharply dressed men standing only a few feet away from them. The man who had just spoken to them wore a dark red vest with golden highlights and a stiff starched white shirt beneath. His attire was completed with a pair of dark purple dress pants, meticulously shinned black leather shoes and a dark green top hat rested lightly on his head. "My name is Jan Z. Rabolta, and my employer sent me to handle the case of young Miss Braven." He doffed his hat genteelly, which revealed a pair of deep vermillion eyes and a head of pitch black hair. December moved forward, her right hand on Crusade's hilt. "Would either of you happen to know where she is at present?"

"Even if we knew, we wouldn't tell, dark mage." The words were cold and even, as December drew Crusade in a single fluid motion. Rabolta eyes betrayed nothing, but he silently motioned his men to take up positions around him in a staggered wing formation, with the two men nearest to him and farthest away from him standing forward of the men in the middle of the wings, who fell back into positions that both girl's registered as support magic positions.

"Now now youngsters, I don't want to hurt you or Miss Braven, I'm simply here to fulfil my end of a contract, simple as that." His eyes suddenly sharpened, as his magic began to dance around him in the form of an azure fog, "But if you two decide to be combative, I will have no other choice then to respond in kind." Without another word, both Rabolta and December burst towards each other, a sword appearing in the taller man's hands. "En Garde!" he shouted as he and December clashed, their swords throwing off a shower of sparks.

"You're not one to play around are you, Mister Rabolta." December said honestly, causing the dark mage to smile, as he parried a slash from December and returned with a furious volley of cuts and thrusts of his own, forcing December to take the defensive. Against Rabolta's broadsword, December was forced to catch and deflect Rabolta's blows to keep him from landing too many direct hits on Crusade.

"You're a very sharp one, young lady," Rabolta said with a rakish grin, as drew back and unleashed an overhead two handed blow that December was forced to avoid completely, as pieces of pavement filled the air with a fine pall of light brown rubble. "But you've a long way to go in the way of a swordsman!" Rabolta appeared from the cloud, unleashing a horizontal sweep which December wisely decided to evade by ducking, as the air above the sword was suddenly filled with several orbs of alternating colors.

"December!" Akemi shouted, as she tried to get closer to her friend, only to be blocked by several of Rabolta's associates.

"If you interfere with the duel, you shall hurt both of their honors, and force us to assist our leader," one of the associates said calmly, as the others took offensive stances of various kinds, "So, have at us instead." Akemi bit her lip, as she realized that she and December were in a pinch now, and Tristan was more than likely not going to be able to back them up. She took a deep breath, focused on the three seals that held back her magic, one in a necklace around her neck, another in the form of a bracelet on her right wrist and the last one being a ring on her right index finger. As her old, familiar magic grew around her, she opened her eyes and took a combat stance of her own, her right foot and hand towards her enemies and her left side ready to strike with the speed of striking scorpion.

"Okay then, it's on!"

* * *

On the rooftops of Hargeon the members of the Endless Serpent guild suddenly froze inplace, as a monsterous amount of killing intent fell upon them with the crushing force of a tidal wave. Terrified, the leader of the team scanned the area around them, sweat pouring down his face like a waterfall. "Who the hell's out there?!" He tried top sound intimidating, but the fear in his heart robbed him of his earlier furvor. Then a soft, calm voice came to them through the killing intent, and they suddenly felt as if death himself were beckoning them to their graves.

"That's far enough, dark mages. You've had your fun, so go back to your boss and report that you failed to find your querries, understood?" The voice was like that of a parent chastising a child, and the men could only stand still around their leader as the voice spoke. "But, if you decide to hunt those kids any longer, you'd better sleep with both eyes open, because I will not forgive a second offense. Now go." As one, the group scattered away from that rooftop, until the entire area was silent as a tomb. Once the coast was clear, Tristan Argent detached himself from the shadow of a nearby chimney stack, a look of childish mischief in his eyes.

"I'll have to thank Hatsune for those lessons on throwing my voice when we get back to Rindou." He turned in the direction that the kids had fled, his right hand lightly touching the hilt of his sword. "For now, those kids are headed for the docks, where they'll probably hole up with John and Kendra until tomorrow..." Then he felt the guild mark on his chest ache, and turning in the direction he felt pulled towards, he took off across the rooftops with all the speed he could muster. "I didn't think that the girls would run into anyone dangerous so soon!"

* * *

December narrowly deflected another powerful blow from Rabolta's broadsword, and she could feel that both of her arms would soon be completely numbed if she didn't pull something off soon. Taking a quick step back, she raised her left hand as a sign for a pause, to which Rabolta obliged. "What is it, young lady?" He said gently, as he lowered his broadsword to waist level.

"We've been fighting for some time now, and I admit that you will likely win if this duel continues as is." Rabolta nodded evenly, while his eyes grew as cunning as a fox's. "I propose that, owing to your own usage of magic earlier, that I be allowed to use my own." Rabolta thought for moment, then nodded slowly.

"I admit, I slipped into my usual fighting style out of habit and, if it were not for your sound judgement, I most likely would have defeated you with that spell. Therefore," he returned to a ready stance, and December followed suit, "I say have at me, young lady." The moment the words had left his mouth, December's right eye turned completely white and Crusade was shrouded in a haze of dark blue and black magical energy.

"Flight." As the word left December's mouth it appeared written on high on her chest, just below her neck, causing her to take off into the sky, before she entered a power dive towards Rabolta, whose broadsword at first stopped the blade, but then was thrown to the side with a sharp clanging of metal. Falling back, Rabolta's eyes flashed with excitement as his own magic appeared around him in the form of a countless number of glowing orbs in every shade of color imaginable.

"Will-O-Whisp Carnival," Rabolta's hands swept outwards, as December made another pass at him with renewed energy, "March!" The orbs shot towards December in an instant, forcing her to break off her dive in order to give herself a better defensive stance against the lights.

"Glory." She spoke softly, causing her Rune magic to thicken her magic around her like a shroud, increasing both her offensive and defensive abilities, as the wall of flashing lights descended upon her like a torrent.

* * *

Meanwhile, Akemi was doing her best at keeping herself away from the well-dressed members of Rabolta's support team, who always picked themselves back up without showing any signs of either tiring or taking damage. _'This isn't good,'_ she thought to herself, as she put some distance between herself and the suits. _'December's holding her own for now, but I don't think that she can defeat that Rabolta guy,'_ one of the suits suddenly burst towards Akemi, who responded by flicking a knife perfectly into his left thigh before he even realized that she was armed.

"Careful!" The dark mage who had spoken to her earlier shouted for the rest to hear, "She's got knives!" Akemi stepped into the injured dark mage's line of sight and the struck him open handed with her right palm, dropping him onto his face. She looked back at the six remaining dark mages, all of whom were now wary of getting into the range of her knives.

_'Plus I don't enjoy close quarters… Oh boy, this is going to be a fun one.' __S_he thought sarcastically to herself. Then she realized that even though she'd directly touched one of the mages, she had not drained any magic from him. She cast a slow eye towards the spot he had fallen, noticing for the first time the silver chain around his neck. Then she noticed that the rest of the dark mages were wearing the same simple, nondescript chain around their necks. _'__Could those chains be the source of their strength?' _The words flowed through her mind as she neared the fallen man, touching the chain on his neck to get a better look; but the moment she did, the man vanished with a puff of oily smoke that reeked of sulfur.

"So that's how you do it," Akemi said slowly, as the other men moved into even more conservative, defensive stances; their arms held high to guard their necks. "Only one of you is real, the rest of you are constructs that stay around until their 'soft spot' gets touched." The one who had spoken first gave her an even look, as he entered a simple boxing pose, his left hand back and his right hand forward.

"You're much sharper than we expected, miss. But your winning streak ends here." All of the men burst forward at once, as Akemi's lips spread into a slightly reckless grin.

"I don't think I can take all of you guys, so let me start taking some of you out first." Without another word, Akemi danced around the first mage who had rushed her, and struck the soft spots on two of his comrades, both of them vanishing into wisps of black, oily smoke. "Two." She counted off, as the other dark mages whirled about to face her.

"Come here!" One of them shouted angrily, as he descended behind Akemi with his hands clasped together for a heavy blow. Akemi laughed lightly, as she gracefully evaded the man's attack and gently tapped his soft spot.

"Three." She stage whispered, as if counting the days of the week to a child. The rest of the dark mages paused, every one of them unwilling to risk getting close to Akemi. In response, she came to them, taking two more of their number in the blink of an eye; one with a pair of knives thrown one after another, causing him to reveal his soft spot and take the second knife to the neck, while the other received a heavy kick to the back of his neck. Akemi appeared before the last of the 'fakes', as she had attributed by the increased movements of the other one to being the original caster, the same man who had been the leader of the group from the start. "Six."

"But you only took down-" The sixth man fell as silently as a ghost, his abrupt vanishing revealing the first knife Akemi had thrown, a barely visible piece of ultra-fine thread connected to the butt of the handle. The last man grinned despite himself.

"You're much better in a pinch then I calculated, Miss. Might I have your name?" Akemi tossed her raven hair with a half-smile on her lips as she answered.

"Akemi Kiri, an S-Class mage of White Dullahan." The dark mage's eyes were hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses, but his mouth gave away a sudden slip of focus upon hearing the name 'White Dullahan.'

"Did you just say-!" The man tried to dodge, but Akemi's hands were already wrapped around his bare right hand, her back against his chest.

"Seven." She performed a perfect throw over her shoulder, with the light haired dark mage slamming into the pavement heavily, as her magic began to drain away his. But then everything went wrong all at once, as the magic within the fair haired man's body tried to completely overwhelm Akemi's mind. "AHGH!" Akemi screamed, causing December to turn her attention to her, and to take a heavy blow that tore Crusade from her hands and knocked her into a pile of crates.

"Daniel!" Rabolta shouted as he witnessed the scene with genuine fear in his eyes, "Sever your connection to the girl now! Before she's taken!" Without a second to spare, Daniel, the dark mage Akemi had thrown, reversed their positions by using his magic to teleport behind the blank faced Akemi, his face a mask of fear.

"Forgive me," he said, as his right leg to drive Akemi away. Unfortunately, he used too much strength, and Akemi impacted the wall of the apartment building Elizabeth had been staying in, causing the black haired girl to cough up a spurt of blood. Both Jan and Daniel's eyes went wide with horror at the sight of Daniel's unintentional lack of restraint. Jan turned to Daniel, and shouted at him with a mix of rage and fear.

"You fool! Do you know whose guild White Dullahan is?" But before Daniel could verbalize the answer, both of them froze and leaped away from the spot where they had been standing; as the area exploded into a fog of rubble.

"I had no intention of hurting the girl, you must believe me!" Daniel managed to croak, as the dust cloud cleared away to reveal Tristan Argent carrying the still sheathed sword in his right hand. "I never intended to-!" Daniel leaped backwards and into a door way were he had placed his magic in case of emergencies, as Tristan unleashed a look of pure, frigid bloodlust that caused Daniel to instinctively retreat into his Dark Gate Spell, where he was separated into another dimension. Tristan turned, his silver grey hair shimming as his rage caused his magic energy to turn visible.

"Name yourself," Tristan said quietly to Jan, who was trembling slightly from the sight he had just barely been able to see. But he drew himself tall and spoke without even a stutter.

"My name is Jan Z. Rabolta, and I take it, sire," he said tactfully, as he eyed Tristan calmly, "That you are Tristan Argent of the White Dullahan guild?" Tristan nodded slowly, as he stayed otherwise motionless. "I must say, good sir, that the turn of events you are now seeing are truly the folly of myself and my subordinate. But I must say, in our defense, that we are only acting under contract. We were paid, and quite reasonably I might add, to escort Ms. Elizabeth Braven to the Endless Serpent guild. There was nothing malicious in our intentions, and the injuries sustained by your guild mates were ones taken when-" Tristan glared savagely at Rabolta, who almost bit his tongue when he was suddenly cut off mid-sentence.

"Jan Z. Rabolta, I have heard your reasons for both your own actions and those of your comrade, and I can understand where you're coming from." Rabolta's eyes sparkled as he pushed forward against the seemingly calmed storm before him.

"Then," he started hopefully, "Under the conditions of myself and Daniel giving up our commission and making sure that your guild mates receive proper medical attention-" Suddenly the air around Jan went cold, as Tristan's killing intent once again was released.

"For hurting my guild mates, I cannot forgive you so easily. Prepare yourself to face my blade, Bannträger." The name stunned Jan, for he had never thought to hear the name that he had received for his acts of inhuman strength of what felt like a lifetime ago ever again. Then Tristan's face registered in his mind, and he drew forth a pair of flawless steel swords that seemed to shine with an unearthly light deep inside of them as he accepted the challenge by speaking the name of the man who stood before him with his old signature unflappable determination.

"I will accept your challenge, and prove my honor to you, Blassfechter."

* * *

A/N: Not sure what to say, besides holy crap me, this chapter was action packed wasn't it?

Also, thanks to those of you who sent in characters! I'm glad to see some new people reading my story, and I'm also thankful for those of you who have endured the times where I was silent. Anyways, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter.

Until next time, this is Azrael DarkWings saying, good night folks. **Falls into deep sleep.**

**Also**, I'll accept one or two more OCs, and then I'm closing them.


	10. Chapter 9: Friends, Allies and Support

A/N: To those of you who are still reading this, I must say thank you, and also offer my apologies. Not only did I fail to reach the 50,000 word mark by September 4th, I also failed to deliver on the Omake chapter… * Face to the floor * I can only say that I'm sorry for that, and take full responsibility for my failure.

Beyond that, OC submissions are now closed, after I received a few really nice ones. For now, I have to focus most of my time and faculties to classes and work, but I'm going to do my dangdest to get more chapters up on this thing, and my other story.

That being said, let the next chapter take off!

Chapter 9

* * *

March 31, X790: Mountains to the North of Rindou

The sun had just peeked over the horizon line as Kisara Bladefield came awake to the smell of breakfast. As Kisara pulled herself up from her sleeping bag a friendly voice tickled her ears, "Morning, sleepyhead."  
Kisara tilted her head politely in Rickel's direction as her mind slowly cleared away the fog of sleep from her mind, "Morning, Rickel," Kisara said slowly, as she pulled on her short top and shorts. As she finished, Rickel offered her a plate with fried meat and toast on it. "Thanks," Rickel smiled at Kisara's gratitude.

"No problem, Kisara," Rickel returned happily, as she began to dig into her own plate with gusto. As the two of them worked their ways through their food in silence, the pale yellow sun slowly began to climb over the horizon line and grow brighter and warmer. A light breeze brushed over the two women, causing Kisara to shiver involuntarily. Rickel offered her a well-worn, black mantle wordlessly, which Kisara gratefully accepted.

"Thank you." Rickel fixed Kisara with a calculated look, causing the purple haired mage to give Rickel a look of her own, "What?" she asked as Rickel shook her head.

"If you get cold that easily, Kisara, shouldn't you just wear more than that?" Rickel indicated Kisara's rather exposing clothing. Kisara sighed as she finished her plate and passed it back to Rickel.

"That really is the only reason for these cloths, Rickel. It's not like I enjoy looking 'easy.'" Kisara tossed her hair offhandedly to emphasize her words. Then she gave Rickel a slightly haughty look, "You feeling lacking compared to me? Especially with those…" Kisara began as she cast a playful look at Rickel's chest, "Average things on your chest?" Rickel's face went red.

"Even if my chest isn't as prominent as yours Kisara, I'm still well-endowed as compared to the average woman," Rickel primed with as much femininity as she could muster, to which Kisara grinned with sarcastic perk to her lips.

"Whatever you want to think, Rickel. Whatever you want to think." Kisara said dismissively, as she reached into her rucksack and withdrew a silver flask. Before she could open it, a frigid look from Rickel gave her a short pause, "What now?" Rickel's frown deepened.

"You promised me that you wouldn't drink while we were in the field, didn't you?" The older woman asked pointedly, causing the younger Kisara to sigh in annoyance.

"Did I really now?" Kisara returned blithely, as she pondered the flask in her hands. Rickel gave her partner a critical look.

"Yes you did, and you did it in front of both Master and Tristan. You promised that you wouldn't drink while we were on mission this time," Rickel grumbled with a sour look on her face, "meaning that I can't stop you on our next mission, just this one." Kisara sighed in resignation and handed the flask over to Rickel, who slid it into her own rucksack with a little flourish.

"Was that really necessary Rickel?" Kisara asked as she cocked an eye at Rickel, to which Rickel returned a small smile.

"Isn't this just the way we work together?" Kisara's eyebrow remained raised towards Rickel, but she couldn't find a retort to the Rickel's playful nature. So she sighed and nodded instead.

"Yeah, I guess you're right on that point." Kisara admitted, a slightly nostalgic look on her face. "It's already been two years since Master paired the two of us up, hasn't it?"

* * *

October 13th, X788

The storm had been gathering since the day before, but on that night it had simply burst over Rindou like a cataract. The members of the guild on night duty were limited to Bastun and Aslan, who were both enjoying a warm mug of herbal tea at the bar when an enormous peal of thunder sounded directly overhead, causing Aslan to look up with a worried expression on his face.

"I hope that our members in the field are staying safe." Bastun gave Aslan a warm smile.

"I believe that even Alphonso wouldn't be as reckless as to travel in weather like this, Aslan." Bastun said confidently, as he took a sip of his tea.

"Mind if I join you two?" A voice asked from the general direction of the elevator leading to the second level, and turning from each other Aslan and Bastun came face to face with Tristan, who was dressed in his usual casual clothes, a dark blue shirt and a pair black shorts. His feet were bare but he made hardly any noise as he approached and seated himself at the bar, as Aslan poured him a mug of warm herbal tea. A smiled as he accepted the mug, "Thank you, Aslan."

"Not a problem, Tristan." Aslan returned with a smile, as another presence moved closer to them.

"Mind if I join you guys?" A feminine voice asked pleasantly. Tristan turned and came face to face with Rickel Conner's, a newer member of the guild.

"If this keeps up, I'm going to have to brew another pot of tea," Aslan sighed as he retrieved yet another mug from behind the counter and filled it as well with the still hot tea. Rickel accepted the tea from Aslan as she took the bar stool nearest to Tristan.

"Thanks for the tea, Aslan." Aslan merely nodded, a smile on his lips.

"I just hope that no one else is awa-" A heavy rapping suddenly sounded from the main door, causing the four mages to turn and face it with a start. Tristan was the first to react afterward.

"I'm pretty sure that that wasn't just the wind guys. That sounded a little too inconsistent..." Tristan placed his mug on the counter and made his way over to the door, with Rickel requiping her Frost Rifle and taking a position to his right to cover the door if necessary. Aslan followed just a step behind Tristan with his sleeves pulled behind his elbows and Bastun remained close to the bar, his hands grasping his staff firmly.

"I've got you two covered," Rickel said just loud enough for Tristan and Aslan to hear as they drew up to the door. Via a quick series of hand signals, Tristan instructed Aslan to move back a few steps to give both of them the room to move as needed if there were hostiles on the other side of the door.

Due to White Dullahan's second nature as one of the few Official Guilds to have a close connection to the Magic Council, sometimes the Council would call on the Dullahan's to handle some more 'delicate' matters that the council themselves could not deal with or were hesitant to offer to other Guilds. As such, from time to time White Dullahan was targeted by Dark Guilds out for pay back.

"Ready?" Tristan asked as a formality, already knowing the answer form his guildmates. Then in a single fluid motion, he pulled open the main guild door and stepped out and onto the front steps of the guild hall, only to freeze in place as he took in the form of a collapsed, raggedly dressed woman. Without even missing a beat, Tristan nodded to Aslan, who gently lifted the drenched young woman up and into his arms, supporting her head like he would a child. "Bastun, we've got a girl here in pretty rough shape, I want you in the infirmary stat!" Bastun nodded silently as he quickly scooted off to the infirmary.

"What about me, Tristan?" Rickel asked as both Aslan moved towards the infirmary and Tristan moved towards the staircase she knew lead to Ageha's room.

"I want you to go with Bastun and Aslan, just in case our visitor wakes up," Tristan's tone was tinged with apprehension, which Rickel immediately reacted to.

"You think she's a plant?" Tristan shook his head vehemently at Rickel's words.

"No, I just want there to be a female present if she doesn't like men. Call it a hunch." Rickel's mind immediately put the pieces together, but before she could continue talking to Tristan he had already vanished up the staircase that lead to the private quarters Master Ageha had explicitly set aside for herself.

"Roger that, Tristan." Rickel replied with affirmation as she turned and followed after Aslan and Bastun.

* * *

With a quick, steady pace Tristan made his way down the short, dimly lite corridor that Ageha had reserved for herself when they had been refurbishing the guild hall. At the time Tristan hadn't fully understood Ageha's reasons for the request, and for that matter the layout was not entirely practical. This section of the guild had been designed personally by Ageha, and it was only by special permission from Ageha herself that anyone was allowed into these section, her private quarters.

"I hope that she's not going to take a swing at me with Byakkomaru." Tristan laughed morosely to himself, as he recalled a time when he had come upon Ageha suddenly on a previous occasion in the inner rooms of the guild, and had nearly gotten himself killed by Ageha's Jinki Byakkomaru, the blade that she had not been using when they first met.

According to Ageha, Byakkomaru had been given to her when she had been a member the Endless Serpent's assassination division. Ranked number fourth out of four, she had coordinated with the other three, each also wielding a weapon named after a Celestial Beast, and had been allowed free reign over her missions, unless she received an order straight from the very top.

"Tristan-San, may I ask why you've come to the rooms of Ageha-Sama?" Tristan flinched as one of White Dullahan's 'special' mages appeared in front of him without warning. But he calmed in an instant as he perceived the dark haired, feminine figure and purple eyes.

"Ah, Kazuko, it's just you." The beauty in front of him cocked her head questioning at his words with a blank expression on her face.

"Might I intemperate your words as meaning that you're relieved to see me, instead of someone else, perchance?" Kazuko asked in a flat, yet inquisitive, monotone.

"Yeah, I'm glad that I didn't bump into Suzume, considering what happened last time…" Tristan's words trickled off, yet Kazuko answered the question she could see in his eyes.

"Unfortunately Suzume has yet to get over her distrust of men, Tristan-san. My apologies." Kazuko offered a quick curtsy, which Tristan groaned at internally. Then he remembered the reason for his excursion into the guild's core.

"Never mind that now, I've got to talk to Ageha now. We've got a 'sensitive matter' in the infirmary right no-" A sudden bellow from beneath their feet startled the pair, and Tristan, his eyes going wide, turned and took off like a bullet back in the direction he had come from. "Kazuko, please tell Ageha that we've got Kisara Bladefield in our infirmary, Stat!"

* * *

After reaching the infirmary, Bastun had immediately moved over to the cabinet where the sedatives were kept, as Aslan moved towards one of the beds to lay the still unconscious girl down. "There you go." Aslan said softly, as he tenderly laid the girl down. Rickel watched the entire scene with an odd sense of surprise.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you looked more like a father or older brother taking care of theat girl then a simple stranger, Aslan." She said in a half joking manner. The big, red haired man turned to Rickel with an oddly haunting smile on his lips.

"It's just my nature." He replied simply, and although Rickel could tell that he was holding back on her, she accepted his words. "Nothing more, and nothing less."

"I've got a full dosage of magic inhibitor here, along with some of my own healing brew to help her body recover." Bastun said, appearing next to the pair by the bed. Turning to Rickel, "Would you mind holding her arm steady for me, Rickel? I wouldn't want to miss her- Aslan!" Bastun's voice suddenly rose to a shout as the previously inert girl burst off of the bed and launched a sweeping blow towards Aslan's large neck with a blade that came from her forearm.

"Rickel!" Aslan's first reaction was to move himself between Rickel and their now fairly hostile stray, catching the edge of the blade across his neck, which left behind a shallow, yet very blood wound. "Bastun, stay clear! Rickel, help me hold her!" While most would have allowed a measure of fear or anxiousness into their voice in the current situation, Aslan's voice only contained power and authority. In a flash of crimson movment he immobilized the struggling girl in a firm and powerful, yet gentle, grip with his powerful arms.

"Weaponize!" The girl's voice sounded raspy and feverish as she weaponized her finger nails and then tore at Aslans arms with a bestial ferocity. Without even a grunt in response to the pain, Aslan flashed a look over to Rickel, who in response immediately clamped onto the struggling girl's left arm at the wrist and held it firmly in place.

""Bastun!"" The pair half shouted as they struggled to keep the struggling girl in place as the older man swiftly placed the needle of the injection against the tanned skin of the girl's arm and then smoothly pierced the skin and depressed the plunger as smoothly as if he had done the same procedure a thousand times before.

"It is okay, young one," Bastun whispered gently, as the knockout and magic inhibiting drugs began their work, causing the girl's arm blade to retract and her hand to return to normal. "We are not going to hurt you." Seemingly soothed by his kindness, and a helpful amount of drugs, the tanned girl fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. "We're in the clear, I think," Bastun sighed heavily.

"For the moment only, I'm afraid," Tristan said as he appeared at the door way. The three Dullahan mages turned to him with a collective sense of curiosity.

"What do you mean by that, Tristan?" Rickel asked, voicing the trio's collective question. The silver haired mage paused for a moment, as he collected his thoughts before speaking.

"Sorry for not warning you guys about this one, but the girl you just helped is Kisara Bladefield, a mage currently wanted for mass murder…" The trio froze as Tristan's blunt words fell like a hammer blow on their ears. Aslan was the first to respond, as me made his way up to Tristan, towering over him by almost a foot. As he spoke, the others could all hear the barely suppressed anger in his voice.

"You knew this when we first opened the door?" Tristan nodded silently at Aslan's words. "You knowingly endangered Rickel and Bastun?" Tristan nodded evenly.

"You know how this place works, we help anyone who comes to the door." Tristan's cold blue eyes stared right back into Aslan's with a fire deep inside of them. "Also, if you're going to even think about lecturing me, Aslan, remember the face that not even you have clean hands. Neither do I, but at least I'm not willing to close the door on someonelse's suffering without taking a moment to at least listen to them." Aslan stood perfectly still, his previous age having been completely destroyed by Tristan's words.

"There are… Irregularities in her case?" Aslan asked softly, to which Tristan nodded in response.

"The men she killed were in league with a man named Azuna, who had just become the head man in her town. The details are sketchy, so I can't say anymore other then this: Azuna himself was found dead on the same day that Kisara's wanted posters went up." Tristan walked over to the bed and looked down at the sleeping Kisara, his eyes softening as he did. "This one's been through more then any of us know, so how about we hold back on judging her until she's able, and willing, to tell us her side of things?"

* * *

March 31, X790

"You didn't wake up until a week after that, and you were the testiest woman I've ever met in my life when you did." Rickel sighed, as both Kisara and her left their reminiscing behind. Kisara smiled at her partner's words.

"Considering where I'd been after what happened with Azuna, and the fact that I'd been on the dodge for almost a month after the fact, it's pretty amazing that I wound up on the door step at White Dullahan at all. If Fiore were to hold a 'Most out of place Legal Guild' contest, we'd win hands down." Rickel groaned inwardly at Kisara's statement, but she couldn't fight it.

"You really are blunt by nature aren't you?" She stated to Kisara pointedly, to which Kisara smiled fiendishly.

"Just call it my hobby." She responded blithely. Rickel made a face.

"I thought that drinking was your hobby," Rickel countered sarcastically, which caused Kisara to grin broadly.

"That's only when I'm by myself."

March 31, X790: Rindou Town

"It's an honor to meet you again, Kirimaru-sama." Kazuko said formally, as the man Cael had met on the barge took a sip of green tea from a traditional eastern styled cup. The older man sighed contentedly, as the tea's warmth seeped into his body.

"It is also a pleasure for me to drink your tea again, Kazuko-chan." Kirimaru said with a small smile, as Kazuko blushed faintly.

"Please, Kirimaru-sama, I am no longer young enough to be called by 'chan', even by yourself." Kirimaru smiled again, as he sized up Kazuko. For a young women of only twenty, Kazuko was already a person with a surprising degree of both maturity and beauty. Her long black hair was currently tied back in in a pony tail, which exposed a face the color of porcelain and a pair of deep violet eyes. Her eyes betrayed no signs of openings, and her face retained an air of both respect and controlled emotions.

"Even if you say so, to this old man, I feel more like treating you as my grand-daughter. So please, just chalk it up to an old man's forgetfully memory that I keep calling you as such." Kazuko sighed in return, as she reached down and smoothed out her pure white skirt. Along with it, she wore a dark blue top with a tight neckline and sleeves down to her wrists. Her long legs were encased in a pair of thigh high black leather boots and white knee socks. "Although I do truly believe that you look much more attractive when you're dressed in clothing of a nature more like my own or Ageha's." Kazuko bowed her head slightly in thanks.

"I am grateful for your kind words, Kirimaru-sama, but I believe that the clothing style I am currently using is better suited for the time being." Kirimaru nodded, and then finished his tea with one final long draw. Setting his cup down, he reached into his yukata and withdrew a sealed tube, which he then handed to Kazuko.

"As requested, I've collected information related to the remnants of the Shadow Palace..." Kazuko accepted the tube with an even look on her face, not showing even the faintest amount of emotion.

"Thank you, Kirimaru-sama, and I'm sorry to ask for such a selfish request." The older man shook his head, but then leaned forward, his face showing a slightly worried expression.

"But it does worry me that you haven't taken anyone else besides myself into confidence with such a heavy task." He reached across the table and gently laid his hand on top of Kazuko's, who clutched the tube close to her body. "Will you not at least tell Tristan? Or even Aslan, as that place holds just as much pain for him as it does for y-" Kazuko's fixed Kirimaru with a look that caused the older man to stop speaking.

"Forgive me, Kirimaru-sama, but I cannot rely on others this time, for the stakes are simply too high, and my pride will not let me drag the pain that place inflicted on myself, Aslan-sama and Suzume to be born by anyone other then myself," Kazuko closed her eyes, and Kirimaru could see that the words were much heavier than those a young girl should be allowed to bare without help.

"If you cannot trust someone related to that incident besides yourself, why not ask for help from someone else inside the guild? If only to ease the fears of these old bones?" He offered a faint smile that caused Kazuko to feel an odd stirring in her chest, as if his mere presence was enough to still her fears. She gave the older man a quick nod of affirmation, which caused Kirimaru to smile. "Good. Now," he offered her his cup, "could I please have another cup of tea."

* * *

White Dullahan Male Dormitory

At the same time as Kazuko and Kirimaru were having their meeting, another member of White Dullahan was finishing off his own meal in his dorm room. Daemon Garrison was tall, able to stand eye to eye with Aslan with ease at 7 foot flat. With his messy, short black hair and dark grey eyes, Daemon was not an easy man to overlook in a crowd, particularly because of the scar over his left eye and the visible rod in his nose due to an almost permanent breakage.

As the last piece of his pizza went down the hatch, Daemon puts down his latest acquisition, and let out a contented sigh, "Oh the joy that only a well-executed slasher can give. A perfect balance to the Three Meat Treat Pizza," So saying, the tall 28 year old sat down at his simple black desk and picked one of the many notebooks on the adjoining mini-shelf, opening it to a fresh, unmarked page, "Okay, what way can I use this new information to prefect my own work?"

Sitting still for only a few moments, Daemon's pen began to move swiftly across the formerly blank page with a smooth, unbroken flair. His prose came easily, as the scenes in his mind began to fall logically into place with nary a rough place, "Alright, now for th-"

"Whatcha writing, Daemon?" Daemon's focus on his writing had caused him to lose his awareness of the world other than the area around his desk, and as such Simone had managed to enter his room without him noticing and appear as if magically at his elbow. Needless to say, this cause Daemon to jump out of his seat and fall backwards with spectacular 'boom'.

"Youwch!" the that cry came from his mouth left Simone unfazed, as she proceeded to read what Daemon had written undisturbed, "Oi, Simone," Daemon groused as he pulled himself upright, "Next time knock would you? You gave me a pretty good scare just now," Simone turned a faintly perturbed eye to Daemon.

"I did knock, and you didn't answer. So I just came in and watched you for a few minutes," Daemon's face paled as he turned towards the clock on his wall.

"You mean that I was writing for-," Simone gave him a slightly impish grin.

"Yup, you were off in your own world again, big guy," Daemon sighed, and hung his shoulders in Simone's direction.

"Thank you, I might have wasted the entire day if you hadn't come in like you did," Simone gave the taller man a warm smile as she put down his notebook.

"It's no problem, and besides," she said as she began to walk towards the door, "I always enjoy reading your work. You're a better writer then most of the others around." Daemon blushed at Simone's teasing tone and started to respond, but the guild's 'big sister' had already vanished from his doorway, leaving the Quake Mage sighing inwardly.

"You are such a tease," Daemon muttered under his breath, as he once again took up his pen and once again began to write.

* * *

A/N: And I'm back! Hello once again loyal readers, tis I, the one and only Azrael! 'Bows head to the ground' I'm sorry that it took so long to post this chapter, but today, or tonight for some of you, I have a few announcements to make.

1\. My other story, Fate: The Eagle and the Lion, is going to go on official Hiatus for a while… I just can't handle two projects considering the state of my real life, and for that, I'm sorry. In return, and if you folks want it, I'm going to shoot for an every other week release for White Dullahan, and after the New Year, perhaps returning to Fate for an every other month sort of release.

2\. I've said it once and I'll say it again, no characters will be accepted through reviews. That is final.

3\. I'd love to hear the thoughts of you readers to help with the formation of this story. What do you like about White Dullahan? What do you dislike. What do you think I can improve on? Please, pm or review me info and I'll attempt to the best of my abilities to follow up on that.

4\. It seems that some people think that this story is too Tristan centric. And I realize that it is, and I'm going to be working on that, in fact I'm going too be fixing that entirely, hopefully.

5\. Thank you for reading, and I'll keep striving to do even better.

Many thanks, Azrael Darkwings.

P.S. I STILL NEED SOME GOOD VILLAINS!


	11. Chapter 11: To be restarted

It's been over a year already, and thank you guys for the support. But I'm going to end WD here. I've hit a wall, and cannot bring myself to continue onward.

That being said, I'm going to be re-booting White Dullahan by the end of this month and starting a fresh. I'll leave the old one up, for vanities sake, and so that I remember where I started.

If you want your character to continue onward, please resubmit them following the guidelines on my profile. I will be updating that list by the 5/14/2016.

Looking for upto _**Three**_ slayers this time around, of any mixture, and will accept back those already made. There will be **_Three_** slots for S Rankers, changeable as needed.

The number of accepted aplications: 15-20. I need to be reasonable here.


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